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THE   LIFE  AND   LETTERS  OF 

GILBERT   WHITE   OF   SELBORNE 


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i^HE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 'oF 

GILBERT    WHITE 

OF  SELBORNE 


//; 


WRITTEN   AND    EDITED   BY 

HIS  GREAT-GRAND-NEPHEW 

RASHLEIGH  'HOLT-WHITE* 


WITH   PEDIGREE,   PORTRAITS,   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 

VOL.    I. 


LONDON 

JOHN   MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET 

1901 


QH 

V.) 


TO 

DAVID   BINNING   MONRO,   M.A. 

PROVOST  OF  ORIEL  COLLKQE 

FROM 
A   FORMER   PUPIL 


JFloreat  (Bvizi 


V'l 


PREFACE 


I  DO  not  propose  to  offer  any  apology  for  publishing 
a  Life  of  Gilbert  White  of  Selborne ;  indeed,  I  think 
that  an  apology  is  due  to  the  Shade  of  a  naturalist 
who  holds  so  high  a  place  in  the  opinion  and  regard 
— I  might  almost  say  the  affection — of  his  country- 
men, that  no  authentic  account  of  his  career  has  yet 
been  given  to  the  world. 

Nevertheless,  though  a  knowledge  of  natural 
history  is  not,  of  course,  the  only  qualification 
necessary  in  a  biographer  of  the  Fellow  of  Oriel, 
the  life  of  a  naturalist  should  have  been  written 
by  a  naturalist ;  a  title  to  which  I  have  not  the 
slightest  claim  :  and  I  am  not  sure  that  I  should 
ever  have  printed  anything,  had  I  not  observed 
with  regret  that  erroneous  statements  concerning 
the  philosopher  of  Selborne  were  constantly  occur- 
ring, in  proportion  to  the  interest  taken  in  him 
which  seems  to  be  ever  increasing. 

That  many  of  the  circumstances  of  his  life  should 
be  mis-stated ;  that,  for  instance,  he  should  have 
been  wrongly  represented  as  remaining  single  on 
account  of  an  unrequited  attachment ;  that  mistakes, 
sometimes  of  a  rather  ludicrous  nature,  should  have 
been  frequently  made  about  his  relatives,  his  habits, 


viii  PKEFACE 

and  the  Selborne  of  his  time  by  writers  who  have 
perforce  drawn  upon  their  imagination  for  their 
statements— all  this  might  be  passed  by  with  a 
smile  by  those  who  know  the  truth.  But  it  is  hardly 
a  laughing  matter  for  one  of  his  family  to  read  in 
a  recent  guide-book  to  Oxford  (by  J.  Wells,  m.a., 
Methuen  and  Co.,  p.  98),  that  Gilbert  White  *'held 
his  Fellowship  for  fifty  years,  and  a  living  into  the 
bargain,  though  it  was  shrewdly  suspected  that  his 
fortune  exceeded  what  the  Statutes  allowed :  he 
shocked  even  his  contemporaries  by  his  non-residence 
and  pluralism";  a  passage  which  I  can  only  charac- 
terise as  a  gross  libel  that  the  writer's  complete 
ignorance  of  the  circumstances  can  barely  extenuate. 

It  seems  time,  therefore,  that  the  facts  about 
Gilbert  White's  life  and  surroundings,  so  far  as 
they  can  now  be  ascertained,  should  be  placed  on 
record;  and  I  believe  that  the  admirers  of  his 
graceful  writings  will  be  glad  to  have  an  authori- 
tative account  of  the  Selborne  naturalist — a  man 
whose  character  need  fear  no  scrutiny. 

If,  in  dealing  with  these  facts,  I  have  not  in  one 
instance  been  able  to  avoid  the  element  of  contro- 
versy, I  must  plead  that 

"  I  speak  not  to  disprove  what  Brutus  spoke, 
But  here  I  am  to  speak  what  I  do  know." 

At  the  request  of  several  correspondents  I  have 
added  a  pedigree  of  the  family  as  far  as  the  genera- 
tion succeeding  Gilbert  White's;  i.e.  his  nephews  and 
nieces,  who  are  often  mentioned  in  his  letters. 


PREFACE  ix 

To  my  cousins  who  have  kindly  allowed  me  to 
copy  letters  and  pictures ;  and  especially  to  the  Earl 
of  Stamford,  who  has  placed  at  my  disposal  the  long, 
and  for  my  purpose  invaluable  series  of  letters  to  the 
Naturalist  from  his  friend  and  contemporary  John 
Mulso,  my  best  thanks  are  due ;  as  well  as  to  Mrs. 
Inge,  a  descendant  of  Archdeacon  Churton,  who  has 
kindly  lent  me  the  letters  to  him  from  Gilbert  White. 
The  Norfolk  and  Norwich  Naturalists'  Society  has 
been  good  enough  to  allow  me  to  reprint  from  its 
'Transactions'  Gilbert  White's  letters  to  Robert 
Marsham.  The  Vicar  of  Selborne ;  the  Rector  of 
Fy field  ;  the  present  owner  of  *'  The  Wakes  "  ;  Mr. 
Lazenby,  of  Basingstoke ;  and  others,  have  kindly 
given  me  facilities. 

Lastly,  to  Professor  Newton  my  obligations  are 
many  and  great.  In  addition  to  much  valuable 
advice,  he  has  been  good  enough  to  send  me  the 
natural  history  notes  which  appear  with  his  initials. 

R.  H.-W. 

New  Year's  Day,  1901. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  Fiti— The  Whites  of  Hampshire— The  Whites  of  South  Warn- 
borough — The  house  and  church  there — The  Whites  of  Basingstoke — 
Richard  White— The  Whites  of  Farnham— Bishop  John  White— 
The  Whites  of  Oxfordshire — Of  Coggs — Sampson  White — Attends 
coronation  of  Charles  II. — Is  knighted — His  brothers — His  sons — 
Gilbert  White,  Vicar  of  Selborne— John  White— Birth  of  the 
Naturalist         .  ,.  .  .  ...       1 

CHAPTER  II. 

John  White  settles  at  Selborne — The  Naturalist  and  his  family — Thomas 
— Benj  amin — Rebecca — John  —  Francis — Anae — Henry —  Seclusjon 
of  Selborne — Bad  roads  thither — A  guide  required — Description  of 
Selborne— The  Hanger— View  from  the  Common— The  Wakes  .        .     18 

CHAPTER  III. 

Gilbert  White's  early  years — Goes  to  Basingstoke  school — A  list  of  his 
books— Enters  Oriel  College— Life  at  Oxford — Takes  B.A.  degree — 
Elected  Fellow  of  Oriel — Probationary  year — His  correspondent  John 
Mulso— Letters  from  Mulso — Visits  Ringmer— Mr.  Holt  dies— Goes 
to  Thorney— Writes  verses  there — Goes  to  Essex— Surveys  property — 
Again  in  Lincolnshire — Coach  -  sickness — Takes  M.A.  degree — 
Ordained  deacon — Curate  of  Swarraton — Has  small-pox  at  Oxford — 
Verses  in  '  Gentleman's  Magazine ' — Returns  to  Swarraton        .        .     29 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Gilbert  White  ordained  Priest — His  saving  habits— Hester  Mulso — No 
attachment  between  her  and  Gilbert  Wliite — Leaves  Swarraton 
curacy — Translation  from  Horace — The  arbour  on  the  hill — Visits 
Devonshire — Harry  White  goes  to  Oriel — Anne  White  marries — The 
Garden  Kalendar— Letter  from  Hester  Mulso — Journeys  round  the 
north-west  of  England — Curate  of  Selborne — Becomes  Proctor — 
Residence  at  Oxford — Anecdotes  of  the  Proctor — The  zigzag  path 
at  Selborne— The  obelisk— Visits  Bristol  Hot-well         .  .        .     53 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE 

Gilbert  White  Curate  of  Durley— "A  clergyman  should  not  be  idle"— 
A  musical  family— Illness  of  his  father— Lends  Mulso  a  horse- 
Visits  Oxford— The  disputes  there— Curate  of  West  Dene— Second 
visit  to  Bristol  Hot- well— Life  at  West  Dene— Also  Curate  of  Newton 
Valence— Improves  the  Selborne  gardens— Visits  Sunbury  and  Oxford 

Stories  in  common-room — Again  Curate  of  Selborne— Stands  for 

Provostship  of  Oriel— Temporary  Curate  of  Dene  and  Newton- 
Receives  Moreton  Pinkney  living— Vicar  of  Selborne  dies— More 
improvements  at  Selborne — Late  martens       .  .  .        .    76 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Death  of  Gilbert  White's  father— Retains  his  Fellowship— Mulso's 
opinion — Interested  misrepresentations — The  Provost  accepts  Gilbert 
White's  explanation — A  modern  attack  on  his  conduct — His  real 
pecuniary  position — His  parents'  marriage  settlement — His  conduct 
defended  —  Not  a  pluralist  —  Nor  a  sinecure  clergyman  —  More 
alterations  at  Selborne— A  motto  for  the  Hermitage— Letter  from 
Gibraltar— Invitation  to  Yorkshire— Ceases  to  be  Curate  of  Selborne 
— Visits  London  and  Lyndon  .  .  .  .         .     98 

CHAPTER  VII. 

An  addition  to  the  garden  at  Selborne — Hester  Mulso  marries — Recon- 
ciliation with  Provost  Musgrave — More  improvements  at  Selborne — 
More  land  acquired— Builds  a  fruit  wall — Rebecca  White  marries — 
Fruit  trees  planted— A  Hussar  Parson— Curate  of  Faringdon — Henry 
White  becomes  Rector  of  Fyfield — Death  of  Charles  White— Inherits 
The  Wakes — Applies  for  a  living — The  Bishop  on  the  subject — 

^  Visitors  at  Selborne — "A  little  journal" — A  ball  at  the  Vicarage — 
Amusements  at  Selborne — A  party  at  The  Wakes — Verses  by  Gilbert 
White — Elegy  by  Harry  White — The  Shepherdesses  leave  Selborne — 
"Kitty's  farewell  to  the  stump" — Mulso  upon  the  living  applied 
for — Upon  the  Shepherdesses  .  .  .  .        .  117 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  heartwhole  bachelor — Visits  Fyfield — Writes  verses — Intention  to 
marry — Refuses  Cholderton  Rectory — Plans  journey  to  Yorkshire — 
Tortworth  Rectory  vacant— Studies  Botany — Visit  to  Oxford — Mulso 
advises  matrimony — A  'Flora  Selborniensis' — First  letter  to  Pennant 
—Bell's  criticism  of  Pennant— Cromhall  Rectory  refused — Describes 

„  the  Harvest  House— The  Naturalist's  Journal— The  Provost  of  Oriel 
dies— Pennant  invited  to  Selborne— Cholderton  again  vacant— Voyage 
of  Joseph  Banks  — Pennant's  'British  Zoology '  — Swallows  and 
swifts— Naturalists  happy  men— Pennant's  candour  praised— Mulso 
upon  Nature— White  congratulates  Pennant  —  First  letter  to 
Barrington— Naturalists  at  Selborne— John  White's  collections— A 
bad  traveller  now— The  secret  of  the  Hermitage  .  .         .  142 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

Barrington  suggests  account  of  Selborne  Fauna — A  new  edition  of  the 
*  British  Zoology ' — The  letters  to  his  family — To  Gibraltar — John 
White's  winter-martin — Visit  from  Mulso — Letter  to  Pennant  on 
Gibraltar  birds — Sends  them  to  Pennant — Returns  drawings  to 
Pennant — Hirundo  hyberna — Mulso  suggests  spectacles — "An  in- 
exhaustible systema  "  —  More  Gibraltar  birds  and  insects  —  Sends 
collection  to  Pennant— Mottoes  for  brother  John's  book — The  curious 
birds  drawn  by  Pennant's  artist — More  birds  arrived  from  Gibraltar  .  175 

CHAPTER  X. 

Death  of  his  sister— Gibraltar  birds  described  to  Pennant — Who  orders 
them  to  be  drawn — Annus  historico-naturalis  proposed — Banks  returns 
— Birds  sent  to  him — Kites  on  the  Downs — Mulso  becomes  Rector  of 
Witney — More  birds  sent  to  Pennant — More  Gibraltar  birds  arrive — 
Linnaeus  writes  to  John  White — John  White  returns  to  England — 
Banks'  museum — John  White  at  Selborne — The  Selborne  climate — 
John  White  writes  to  Pennant — And  leaves  Selborne — The  shivering 
wren — Mrs.  Chapono  publishes — The  sedge-bird — Clerical  leases — 
John  White  invited  to  Selborne— Bulfinch  changing  colour — Disputes 
at  Oriel — Banks  and  Lightfoot — Late  martins — Hopes  to  visit 
Lancashire— Goes  to  Ringmer — Swallow  monographies— A  guide 
needed  for  Selborne  .  .  .  .  .         .  198 

CHAPTER  XL 

Gilbert  White  unable  to  visit  Blackburn — His  nephew  Jack  at  Selborne 
— A  flood  at  Selborne— Pennant's  selfishness — The  Wakes  to  be  a 
family  residence — Linnaeus  decried  in  London — A  naturalists'  treaty 
— The  disputed  drawings  in  London —Refuses  Cromhall  Rectory — 
The  landslip  at  Hawkley — Described  by  Jack  White — Letter  to 
Samuel  Barker — Contemplates  a  Natural  History  of  the  district — 
Educates  his  nephew  Jack — Letter  on  the  birds  of  Devonshire — 
More  drawings  from  Pennant — Mulso  upon  Selborne  roads — Harry 
White  building  at  Fyfield — "  Every  man  now  publishes  in  quarto  " — 
Wishes  to  see  Linnaeus'  letter— Lever's  Museum— John  White's  book 
progresses  .  .  .  ....  237 

CHAPTER  XIL 

CEstrus  cwrwcawcZa— Hinged-shell  tortoises — Nits  on  horses — Inquiries 
for  John  White's  son — The  art  of  versification — Dryden  and  Pope — 
Time's  advances — In  town  with  his  nephew,  Jack  White — News 
from  London — The  fashion  "to  look  in  picture  books" — Dr. 
Johnson's  'Journey  through  the  Hebrides' — Rooks'  wings  frozen 
together — "  Have  a  good  many  cuts  " — A  flock  of  spoonbills — "  I 
want  to  see  you  the  first  of  Faunists  " — Another  letter  on  poetry — 
Thomson,  Phillips,  Somerville — Talks  of  building — Mulso  hears  and 
praises  his  writings — Inquiries  about  Mr.  Grimm  —  Opinion  of 
Grimm's  work— Viper  and  young — Experiment  with  arundo  donax 
—  Upland  ponds — Murmur  electricum — Swallow  monographies — 
Letter  on  the  use  of  rushes  .  .  ...  264 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE 

Thomas  White's  inheritance— Proposed  history  of  Hampshire— 'Fauna 
Calpensis '— Mr.  Holt's  will— Interview  with  Grimm— Mr.  Holt's 
legacies— Gibbon  and  Gilbert  White— Visit  to  London— "  Send  me 
all  manner  of  hints"— More  about  Mr.  Holt's  will— Corrects  the 
•British  Zoology '—Services  to  Pennant  insufficiently  recognised— 
The  title  of  John  White's  book— Mr.  Holt's  affairs— Sexuality  of 
mosses— Mulso  urges  publication— The  Holt  pedigree— A  new 
Hermitage— The  improvement  at  Fyfield — New  Hermitage  finished — 
Grimm  coming  to  Selborne— Burgoyne's  light  horse— Grimm  at 
Selborne— **  Your  work  will  immortalize  your  place  of  abode" — 
Gibbon's  history— Thomas  White  prepares  to  retire— Grimm's 
drawings  at  Selborne       .  .  .  ...  297 


LIST  OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Gilbert  White,  Vicar  of  Selborne,  fetat  75      .  .  Frontispiece 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  Edmund  Field. 

Seal  (arms  of  White  and  Holt,  quarterly)         .  .  On  Title  page 

Which  belonged  to  Gilbert  White,  the  Naturalist.  IJ  the  size 
of  the  original. 

Crest  engraved  on  the  head  of  Gilbert  White's  walking- 
stick  .  ....  On  page  ix 

Anne  Holt,  afterwards  Mrs.  John  White  .  .   To  face  page    16 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 

Chapel  and  School  of  the  Guild  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 

Basingstoke       .  .  .  .  .  ,,  ,,     30 

From  a  "view  taken  in  1760." 

"  Westward  of  and  adjoining  to  the  ruins  of  this  chapel,  stands 
a  building  consisting  of  one  large  regular  room,  about  forty  feet 
in  length  and  twenty-four  in  breadth :  this  is  the  only  chapel  and 
school-room  that  of  late  years  has  been  made  use  of." 

[From  a  description  of  the  above  "view,"  dated  1772.] 

1.  Cup,  presented  to  Sir  Sampson  White  at  the  Coronation 
of  Charles  II. ;  and  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Corpora- 
tion of  Oxford  .  .  .  .  ,.  ,,     34 

2.  Pocket  Account-Book,  used  by  Gilbert  White  at 

Oxford  .  .  .  .  .  „  ,,     34 

The  Church  and  Vicarage  at  Selborne,  in  Gilbert 

White's  time     .  .  .  .  .  .,  ,,     66 

From  an  engraving  of  a  drawing  by  Samuel  Henry  Grimm  in  the 
flrst  edition  of  the  'Selbonie.' 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTEATIONS  xv 

The  "  Obelisk,"  at  the  top  of  the  zigzag  path  at  Selborne     To  face  page  72 
From  a  recent  photograph  by  Francis  Rashleigh  Holt- White. 

The  Hot  Wells  at  Bristol  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, from  a  meadow  near  Rownham  passage  .  ,,  ,,84 
From  an  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Paul  Sandby,  r.a. 

Catharine  Battie,  retat  19  .  .  .  ,,         ,,128 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 

Verses  by  Gilbert  White  upon  the  "  Shepherdesses," 
given  by  him  to  Catharine  Battie     .  .  .  ,,  ,,136 

Fleet  Street  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  .  „         ,,  168 

From  a  print  in  the  British  Museum  collections. 

Mrs.  Snooke,  as  a  young  woman       .  .  .  ,»         ,,  204 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  John  White. 

Oriel  College  in  the  Eighteenth  Centuky  .  ,,         „  228 

From  an  old  print. 

"  A  Selbornian  View  "      .  .  .  .  ,,         ,,292 

From  a  drawing  (probably  made  in  London  after  a  visit  to  Bel- 
borne)  by  Thomas  Mulso  in  1751. 

Thomas  Whiie,  brother  of  Gilbert  White         .  .  „  ,,298 

From  an  oil  painting  by  Thomas  Robinson,  in  tlie  possession  of 
the  author. 

The  Hermitage  AT  Selborne  .  .  .  ,,         ,,  328 

From  a  water  colour  drawing  by  Samuel  Henry  Grimm  executed 
in  1777  for  Henry  White,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Right  Hon- 
ourable the  Earl  ol  Stamford.     About  ith  the  size  of  the  original. 


'♦  How  much,"  said  he,  "  more  happy  is  the  State 
In  which  ye,  Father,  here  do  dwell  at  ease, 
Leading  a  Life  so  free  and  fortunate, 
From  all  the  Tempests  of  these  worldly  Seas, 
Which  toss  the  rest  in  dangerous  Disease  ? 
Where  Wars,  and  Wrecks,  and  wicked  Enmity 
Do  them  afflict,  which  no  man  can  appease  ; 
That  certes  I  your  Happiness  envy, 
And  wish  my  Lot  were  plac'd  in  such  Felicity." 

"  Surely,  my  Son  (then  answer'd  he  again) 
If  happy,  then  it  is  in  this  Intent, 
That  having  small,  yet  do  I  not  complain 
Of  Want,  ne  wish  for  more  to  it  augment, 
But  do  my  self,  with  that  I  have,  content ; 
So  taught  of  Nature,  which  doth  little  need 
Of  foreign  Helps  to  Life's  due  Nourishment. 


"  To  them  that  list,  the  Yforld's  gay  Shows  I  leave. 
And  to  great  ones  such  Follies  do  forgive, 
Which  oft  thro'  Pride  do  their  own  Peril  weave. 
And  thro'  Ambition  down  themselves  do  drive 
To  sad  Decay,  that  might  contented  live. 
Me  no  such  Cares  nor  combrous  Thoughts  offend, 
Ne  once  my  Mind's  unmoved  Quiet  grieve ; 
But  all  the  Night  in  silver  Sleep  I  spend, 
And  all  the  Day,  to  what  I  list,  I  do  attend." 

The  Faery  Queen. 


"Your  work,  upon  the  whole,  will  immortalize  your  place  of  abode 
as  well  as  yourself." 

John  Mulso  ;  \Qth  July,  1776. 


THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF 

GILBERT    WHITE 

OF   SELBORNE 

CHAPTER  L 

Thomas,  brother  of  Gilbert  White  of  Selborne,  who, 
after  his  retirement  from  the  cares  of  business  in 
1777,  amused  himself  by  writing  letters  on  various 
topics  (chiefly  under  the  signature  "  T.  H.  W.")  to 
the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine "  and  other  periodicals, 
wrote,  in  1786,  to  the  one  just  named  regarding 
the  early  history  of  the  Whites  of  Hampshire  as 
follows  : — 

Mr.  Ueban, — As  I  value  myself  on  being  a  descendant  of 
the  J\dm  or  Viti,  I  am  obliged  to  take  notice  of  the  re- 
flection that  Governor  Pownall  casts  on  my  ancestors  by 
calling  them  pirates  ("  Archseologia,"  vol.  vii.  p.  269).  We 
Guti  or  Viti  were  permitted  by  King  Ina  to  settle  in  this 
kingdom  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  rest  of  his  subjects, 
because  we  are  descended,  as  we  can  prove  by  record,  "  de 
nobili  sanguine  Anglorum"  from  the  noble  hlood  of  the  Angles^ 

VOL.  I. — B 


2  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBOENE 

(Leges  Edovardi)  .  .  .  give  me  leave  to  say  that  few  families 
have  so  antient  or  equitable  a  title  to  their  possessions  in 
this  island.  They  who  came  in  with  the  ravaging  Danes  or 
with  the  Norman  invader  certainly  have  not;  and  if  the 
early  Saxons  had  committed  any  injustice  in  their  first 
establishment,  it  was  before  we  migrated  hither,  for  we  had 
the  rare  felicity  to  settle  peaceably  and  to  be  admitted  to 
all  the  privileges  of  fellow-citizens  with  general  content. 
Where  is  the  man,  unless  he  can  prove  his  descent  from  the 
Armorici,  who  can  make  it  appear  that  his  ancestors  gained 
an  establishment  in  this  country  on  terms  so  respectable?* 

EiCARDUS  Vitus  Basinstockius.! 

It  is  true  that  the  earlier  Jutish  colonies  were 
founded  by  emigrants,  as  contrasted  with  those  of 
the  Angles,  who  came  in  a  body  as  conquerors. 
The  name  of  White  is  a  common  one,  especially 
in  Hampshire,  Berkshire,  and  Oxfordshire,  and  this 
points  to  the  probable  conclusion  that  it  is  in  its 
modern  form  a  corruption  of  a  tribal  name.  But 
however  this  may  be,  leaving  early  history,  it 
appears  from  the  Harleian  MSS.  that  there  were  in 
the  late  Middle  Ages  four  considerable  families  of 
that  name  established  in  Hampshire,  who  seem  to 
have  been  related  both  by  descent  and  intermarriage. 

1.  White  of  Swanborne,  or  South  Warnborne. 

2.  White  of  Basingstoke. 

3.  White  of  Farnham. 

4.  White  of  Aldershot. 

•  ♦*  Gentleman's  Magazine,"  1786,  vol.  Ivi.  p.  17. 

t  The  reason  of  the  adoption  of  this  name  appears  infra  p.  6. 


THE  WHITES   OF   S.  WARNBOEOUGH  3 

Anthony  a  Wood's  MS.,  now  in  the  Bodleian  Library 
at  Oxford,  after  giving  an  account  of  Gilbert  White's 
great-grandfather.  Sir  Sampson  White,  Knight,  and 
his  family,  has  a  note  (in  Wood's  handwriting,  but 
added  apparently  at  a  later  date)  to  this  effect : — 

"These  Whites  are  descended  from  the  Whites  of  South 
Warnborough,  in  Hampshire.  The  original  of  the  White  of 
Oxfordshire  was  steward  or  Baylier  of  Einsham  Abbey."* 

This  note  rather  conflicts  with  the  account  given 
previously  in  this  MS.,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
no  authority  for  the  later  statement  is  given. 

The  pedigree  of  the  Whites  of  South  Warn- 
borough given  in  the  Harleian  MSS.f  commences 
with  one  Robert  White,  born  at  Yatley,  Hants,  who 
was  "Mayor  of  the  Staple  at  Calais,  lived  at  Sand- 
wich and  after  at  Farnham,  and  purchased  the  manor 
of  Southwarnborne,  co.  Hants,  of  Sir  Fulke  Pem- 
bridge."     He  died  at  Farnham  in  1461. 

His  son  John,  who  was  knighted,  married  a 
daughter  of  Eobert,  Lord  Hungerford  ;  and  their  son 
Robert,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
Inglefield,  the  elder.  Knight,  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son  Sir  Thomas  White,  Knight,  Master  of 
the  Requests  to  Queen  Mary  and  Sheriff  of  London 
and  Middlesex,  1  Edward  VI.  He  married  Agnes, 
daughter  of  Robert  White  of  Farnham  and  sister 
of  John  White,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  subsequently 

*  Vide  note  to  Wood's  MS.,  f.  iv.  p.  155. 
t  Nos.  1,544,  1,183,  1,139,  etc. 


4  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE 

of  Winchester  in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  and  of  Sir 
John  White,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1563.  Sir 
Thomas's  eldest  son  Henry  possessed  the  manor  of 
South  Warnborough;  but  with  him  the  family  became 
extinct  at  South  Warnborough  in  the  male  line,  as 
his  only  children  were  three  daughters,  coheiresses, 
who  married  respectively  Thomas  Scudamore,  Walter 
Gifford  of  Chillington,  Stafford,  and  Henry  Ferrers 
of  Badisley  Clinton,  Warwickshire.  John  White,  a 
grandson  of  Sir  Thomas,  was  declared  chief  heir 
male.  ^ 

The  manor-house  of  South  Warnborough,  though 
now  much  reduced  in  size  and  altered,  existed  in 
its  original  state  until  about  1830,  and  was  a  fine 
red -brick  Tudor  mansion.  The  chancel  of  South 
Warnborough  Church  is  filled  with  brasses  and  monu- 
ments, some  of  them  fine  and  interesting,  of  the 
White  family,  which  intermarried  with  the  Paulet, 
Gaynsford,  Tichborne,  and  other  old  Hampshire 
families,  and  evidently  occupied  a  position  of  some 
importance  in  the  county. 

In  the  church  windows  are  several  coats-of-arms, 
in  stained  glass,  of  the  family  and  its  alliances, 
which  were  formerly  in  the  manor-house — probably 

•  MS.  Harl,  1,544.  He  was  living  in  1593.  In  "Nature  Notes,"  vol. 
iv.  p.  106,  this  John  White  is  represented  as  identical  with  John  White  of 
Coggs,  near  Witney,  the  father  of  Sir  Sampson  White  ;  but  this  is  an  error, 
since  Thomas  (not  Richard,  as  stated  in  *'  Nature  Notes")  White,  the  father 
of  the  former,  in  his  will  dated  September  1st,  1558,  describes  himself  as 
"of  Downton  in  Wilts  gentleman,"  and  speaks  of  his  son  John  as  his  only 
child,  whereas  John  White  of  Coggs  mentions  a  brother  Henry  in  his  vnll. 


THE  WHITES   OF  BASINGSTOKE  5 

in  the  large  hall,  now  pulled  down,  which  is  said  to 
have  witnessed  the  knighting  of  one  of  its  owners 
by  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  arms  of  this  branch  of  the  family,  the  grant 
of  which  is  duly  recorded,  are  (with  a  slight  differ- 
ence, which  evidently  arose  from  a  mistake  on  the 
part  of  the  Oxfordshire  family)  the  same  as  those 
which  appear  on  the  handsome  monuments  in 
S.  Mary's  Church,  Oxford,  to  Sir  Sampson  White 
and  his  sons,  and  to  his  brother  Henry  in  the 
church  of  Coggs,  near  Witney ;  viz.  argent,'*  a 
chevron  gules  between  three  parrots  or  popinjays 
vert,  collared  or,  a  bordure  azure  besantee. 

The  Whites  of  Basingstoke  and  Farnham  were 
descended  respectively  from  Jenkinf  and  John,  the 
two  sons  of  Thomas  White  of  Pernix,  or  Purvile, 
in  Hants. 

Of  the  former  family  the  most  celebrated  member 
was  Kichard  White,  the  son  of  Henry  White  of 
Basingstoke.  He  was  educated  at  Winchester  and 
New  Colleges,  of  which  latter  he  was  admitted 
Fellow  in  1557.  Leaving  England  on  account  of 
his  religious  opinions,  he  went  to  Lou  vain,  and 
afterwards  to  Padua,  where  he  became  D.C.L.  Sub- 
sequently he  was  created  by  the  Emperor  a  '*  Comes 
Palatinus,"  and  by  the  Pope  "Magnificus  Eector"  of 


*  In  the  Oxfordshire  and  earlier  Selborne  monuments  the  shield  is  or. 
t  A.  a  Wood  states  that  Jenkin  White  **  had  almost  half  the  town  of 
Basingstoke  in  his  possession." 


6  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE 

Douay,  at  which  place  he  died  a  canon  of  S.  Peter's 
Church  in  1611. 

He  wrote  under  the  name  of  Ricardus  Vitus 
Basinstockius,  his  principal  work  being  a  History 
of  the  British  Isles,  "ab  origine  mundi."  He  also 
wrote  some  orations ;  two  of  which,  spoken  at 
Louvain,  were  published  by  Christopher  Johnson, 
Headmaster  of  Winchester  College,  about  1564,  and 
commanded  by  him  to  be  read  publicly  in  the  school 
by  the  scholars ;  also  a  geometrical  treatise,  entitled 
**  Hemisphaerium  Dissectum,"^  and  other  works. 
With  Eichard  White  the  Basingstoke  family  seems 
to  have  become  extinct  in  the  male  line. 

The  Farnham  branch  of  the  family  produced  a 
man  of  some  eminence  in  John  White  (son  of 
Eobert  White  of  Farnham),  who  was  born  at  that 
place  in  1511.  According  to  Anthony  a  Wood,t  he 
was  "  educated  in  grammar  learning  at  Wykeham's 
School,  near  Winchester,  Fellow  of  New  College  in 
1527,  M.A.  in  1533  (and  about  that  time  master 
of  the  said  school).  Warden  in  1541." 

In  Queen  Mary's  reign  he  was  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
and  subsequently  of  Winchester.  He  "  helped  burn 
Eidley,  preached  a  black  sermon  on  Queen  Mary's 
death   of   Elizabeth,   '  melior  est  canis  vivus  leone 

*  In  the  Imprimatur  appended  to  this  mathematical  dissertation 
(which  is  gravely  stated  to  contain  '*  nihil  contra  fidem  aut  bonos  mores  ") 
the  author  is  described  as  "Richardus  Albius  nobilis  Anglus  praeillustri 
et  antiquissima  familia  apud  Anglos  natus."  In  this  book  his  arms  are 
rcpregented  as  tliose  of  the  South  Warnborough  family. 

t  '  AtheniB  Oxonienses'  (Ed.  Bliss),  vol.  ii.  p.  118. 


THE  WHITES   OF   OXFOKDSHIKE  7 

mortuo,'  and  threatened  to  excommunicate  the 
Queen,  who  committed  him  to  the  Tower  in  April, 
1559,  and  deprived  him  of  his  bishopric."  He 
was  shortly  afterwards,  however,  permitted  to  re- 
tire to  his  sisters.  Lady  White's,  house  at  South 
Warnborough,  where  he  died  on  the  11th  January 
following.  ^ 

Another  son  of  Eobert  White  of  Farnham,  Sir 
John  White,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1563, 
founded  a  branch  of  the  family  at  Aldershot. 
His  grandson  Eobert  White,  however,  being  the 
only  surviving  male  member  of  his  family  and 
dying  without  issue,  the  family  became  then  ex- 
tinct in  the  male  line.  Eobert  White's  two  sisters 
married  two  brothers.  Sir  Eichard  Tichborne  of 
Tichborne,  Bart.,  and  Sir  Walter  Tichborne  of 
Aldershot,  Knight. 

It  has  been  stated  that  according  to  Anthony  a 
Wood  the  Whites  of  Oxfordshire,  who  were  un- 
doubtedly the  immediate  ancestors  of  the  Whites 
of  Selborne,  were  descended  from  a  member  of  the 
South  Warnborough  branch  of  the  family.  Follow- 
ing, however.  Wood's  earlier  account  we  find  that 
he  traced  his  contemporary.  Sir  Sampson  White, 
Mayor  of  Oxford,  from  a  family  settled  at  "  Cogges 

*  It  may  perhaps  be  of  some  interest  to  note  that  when,  a  few  years  ago, 
eight  apostle  spoons  which  had  belonged  to  Bishop  John  White  were  sent  to 
Christie's  by  descendants,  in  the  female  line,  of  Dame  Agnes  White,  they 
fetched  no  less  than  265  guineas.  It  was  stated  that  had  the  other  three 
spoons  and  the  **  king "  spoon  been  also  sold,  the  lot  would  probably  have 
fetched  1,000  guineas. 


8  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE 

by    Witney,    where    the    name  hath    lived    several 
generations." 

Gilbert  White,  the  naturalist,  a  great-grandson 
of  Sir  Sampson,  writing  for  the  information  of  a 
nephew,  Samuel  Barker,  of  Lyndon  Hall,  Rutland, 
gives  the  following  account  of  his  ancestors  : — 

"The  family  of  the  Whites  (our  family)  were  in  posses- 
sion of  an  estate  called  Swan  Hall,  in  the  tything  of  Haley, 
parish  of  Witney,  Oxon.,  as  long  ago  as  the  reign  of  Queen 
Ehzabeth ;  the  mansion  of  Swan  Hall  is  still  standing.  In 
the  map  of  Oxfordshire  bound  up  with  Plot's  history  of 
that  county*  are  the  arms  of  the  Whites  of  Swan  Hall, 
the  same  that  we  bear.  We  are  lineally  descended  from 
Sir  Sampson  White,  my  great-grandfather,  being  the  fourth 
son  (born  1607),  whose  father  was  possessed  of  Swan  Hall. 
This  estate,  by  a  female  line,  went  into  the  family  of  the 
Ashworths,  who  sold  it." 

As  already  stated  the  name  of  White  is  by  no 
means  uncommon  in  Oxfordshire.  Among  the  names 
of  the  gentry  of  Oxfordshire  returned  by  the  Com- 
missioners in  the  twelfth  year  of  King  Henry  VL 
occurs  Johannes  White,  f  One  John  le  Whyte's 
name  occurs  in  Dugdale's  *Monasticon  Anglicanum' 
as  a  witness  to  a  deed  relating  to  Einsham  Abbey. 

It  is  certain  that  a  family  of  that  name  was  settled 
at  Coggs  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.     In  the  Sub- 

♦  'The  Natural  History  of  Oxfordshire,'  by  Robert  Plot,  ll.d.,  late 
Keeper  of  the  Ashmolean  Museum  and  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the 
University  of  Oxford,  1677. 

t  Vide  FuLLKii's  History  of  the  Worthies  of  England.  Ed.  Nicholls. 
Vol  ii.  p.  285. 


SAMPSON  WHITE   OF   COGGS  9 

sidy  Rolls  for  the  hundred  of  Wotton,  co.  Oxon.,  of 
November  29th,  16  Hen.  VIII.  (1524),  in  the  list  of 
names  for  the  village  of  Coggs  occur — 

5.      d. 
"Will""  Whyght      .  .         .     vi.  viii. 

Ahcia  Whyght,  vidua.       .        .    iiii. 
Thomas  Whyght  .  .         .     iiii" 

These  names  appear,  from  an  examination  of  Alicia 
Whyght's  will,  made  in  1531  and  proved  in  1553, 
to  be  those  of  a  mother  and  her  two  sons,  who  were 
grown  up,  and  householders  in  1524.  This  family 
seems  to  have  been  amongst  the  most  substantial 
people  in  Coggs,  since  there  is  only  one  person 
assessed  at  a  higher  rate. 

The  names  of  Thomas  Whyte  and  Richard  Whyte 
of  Coggs  are  conjectured  from  an  examination  of 
their  wills  to  be  grandfather  and  father  respectively 
of  John  White  of  Coggs,  who  made  his  will  in  1628, 
and  who  had  four  sons  and  two  daughters. 

His  youngest  son  Sampson,  who  was  born  in 
1607,  went  to  Oxford  and  became  a  mercer  there. 
He  prospered  in  business,  and  became,  according  to 
Wood, 

"Baillive  of  the  city  of  Oxon.  1642,  turned  out  of  the 
Councell  House  for  his  loyalty,  restored  upon  His  Majesties 
coming  to  the  Crowne  1660,  chose  mayor  y*  yeare,  served  as 
Butler  of  the  Beer-celler  at  his  Coronation,  and  then  had 
the  dignity  of  Knighthood  confer 'd  upon  him.  In  1665  he 
was  chose  Mayor  againe,  being  y^  yeare  w"  the  great  plague 
raged  in  London." 


10  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE 

An  interesting  "  account  of  the  claim  of  the  city  of 
Oxford  made  at  the  coronation  of  King  Charles  the 
Second  "  is  preserved  in  the  city  book. 

It   appears   that   "  Certeyne   Lords    Com^^"    were 

appointed 

"for  the  recieving  the  peticdhs  &  claimes  of  such  as  were 
to  doe  service  on  the  said  day.  Hereupon  Sampson  White, 
Esq.,  Mayor  of  the  City,  by  the  advice  of  his  Brethren  and 
the  whole  Councell  Chamber,  took  his  journey  to  London  to 
present  from  this  city  a  peticoli  &  claime  to  the  Com"^ 
that  the  Mayor  of  Oxford  and  six  of  the  Cittizens  might  be 
admitted  to  serve  the  King's  Ma*^®  in  his  Buttelary  on  the 
day  of  his  Royall  Coronaco'n  together  with  and  in  such 
manner  as  the  Lord  mayor  and  the  cittizens  of  London  doe." 

This  petition,  drawn  up  in  Norman-French,  was 
allowed  by  the  commissioners.  Whereupon  the 
Mayor,  "  with  6  Cittizens  appointed  by  the 
Councell  chamber "  and  "  5  others  of  the  councell 
chamber  who  offered  to  habit  themselves  att  their 
owne  charge,"  with  the  mace-bearer  and  sergeants, 
*'  rode  up  to  Westminster  for  to  doe  the  service  afore- 
said." Upon  their  application  on  the  evening  before 
the  coronation,  the  Duke  of  Ormonde,  "steward  of 
his  Ma^yes  household,"  formally  put  "  the  Mayor  and 
cittizens  of  Oxford  into  possession  of  the  King's 
Butelarryes."  When  the  King  returned  from  West- 
minster Abbey  to  the  feast  in  Westminster  Hall, 

"Mr.  Maior  accompanied  with  Mr.  Ernley,  Gent  of  the 
Buttery,  went  up  in  his  Scarlett  gowne  from  the  Buttery 
at  the  lower  end  of  Westm"^  Hall  to  the  cubbard  erected 


SAMPSON  WHITE  KNIGHTED  11 

for  the  Butler  neer  to  the  King's  table  carrying  two  golden 
Bowles  covered  in  his  Hands  w*^  w*=^  his  Majesty  was  to  be 
served  ....  at  which  cubbard  Mr.  Mayor  of  Oxon :  alone 
waited  in  his  scarlett  gown,  executing  the  ofifice  of  Buttler 
while  his  Ma"®  was  at  dinner  only,  when  his  Ma"®  had  neer 
dyned  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  presented  his  Ma**®  with 
a  bowle  of  wine  &  claimed  the  bowle  &  had  the  same 
allowed  by  his  Ma"®. 

"And  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Friday  Morneing  Mr. 
Mayor  and  the  Cittizens  attending  on  his  Ma"®  to  kiss  his 
Eoyall  Hand  his  Ma"®  was  graciously  pleased  to  conferre  the 
hon""  of  K"%ood  upon  Mr.  Mayor." 

It  is  mentioned  that  on  their  application  the 
Mayor  and  his  followers  were  permitted  by  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  London  "  to  go  down  to  Westminster  with 
his  Lordshippe  in  his  Barge  "  on  the  Coronation  day, 
after  a  "very  free  Treatment  given  them  by  his 
Lsppe."  They  also  dined  with  the  Lord  Mayor  on 
the  day  after  the  coronation,  "where  they  had  a 
very  noble  &  great  feast  &  were  entertayned  by  his 
Lsppe  w*^^  soe  much  and  soe  great  respect  that  it 
deserves  to  have  a  lasting  rememberance  for  w°^ 
purpose  it  is  here  entered." 

The  "bowle,"  a  large  silver-gilt  cup,  which  was 
kept  by  Sir  Sampson  White,  was  bequeathed  by 
him  to  the  Corporation  of  Oxford. 

A  family  tradition,  which  has  descended  to  the 
writer,  records  that  the  worthy  Mayor,  on  hearing 
Lord  Eochester  at  Court  remark  on  the  recent 
frequency    of   highway    robberies,    sagely   observed, 


12  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE 

"Perchance  then,  my  lord,  there  be  knaves  abroad  ! " 
Upon  which  his  lordship,  looking  at  him,  replied, 
"  Ay,  and  fools  too  ! " 

Sir  Sampson  White's  eldest  brother  John  is 
described  as  "of  Northley,  near  Witney."  The  next 
brother,  Eichard,  became  Vicar  of  Basingstoke ;  and 
the  next,  Henry  White  of  Coggs,  died  ccelebs  in 
1677,  and  was  buried  at  Coggs.  In  this  church 
there  is  a  monument  to  him  with  a  Latin  inscription 
under  his  coat-of-arms,  in  which  he  is  stated  to  be 
"ex  famiM  vicum  hunc  (ultra  certam  temporis 
prescriptionem)  habitante."  The  inscription  records 
his  travels  through  various  parts  of  England,  his 
readiness  to  impart  information  thus  acquired,  his 
charity,  etc.,  and  states  that  the  memorial  was 
erected  by  his  nephews  Henry,  Francis,  and  John — 
three  of  Sir  Sampson's  sons,  one  of  whom  was  his 
heir  under  his  will. 

Possibly  this  member  of  the  family  may  have 
owned  Swan  Hall ;  but  it  seems  almost  certain  that 
Gilbert  White  was  mistaken  in  asserting  that  Sir 
Sampson  White's  father,  John  White,  owned  it,  since 
there  is  no  mention  of  this  estate  in  his  (John  White's) 
will.  It  seems  more  probable  that  his  son  Sir  Sampson, 
who  became  the  wealthy  man  of  the  family,  bought 
this  property  in  his  native  village  of  Coggs,  with 
a  view  to  one  of  his  sons  living  there. 

Sir  Sampson  White,  who  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Richard  Soper,  Arm.,  of  East  Oakley,  in  Hamp- 
shire, died 


SIR   SAMPSON  WHITE'S   SONS  13 

"early  on  Sunday  morning  28  Sep'*  1684  at  his  house  in 
S.  Marie's  parish,  opposite  to  Universitie  College,  aged  78,  and 
was  buried  on  the  5  th  Oct.  in  S.  Marie's  Church,  viz.  between 
the  dore  leading  thence  into  Adam  Brome's  chappell  and  the 
buttress  of  the  steeple,  on  the  north  side  of  this  church." 

A  long  Latin  inscription  under  his  coat-of-arms 
records  his  dignities  and  virtues,  and  states  that  he 
was  "  ab  omnibus  desideratus."  ^ 

He  left  a  family  of  five  sons,  three  of  whom 
became  graduates  of  the  University,  and  one  daughter. 
John  White,  born  1636,  his  eldest  son,  of  Magdalen 
and  afterwards  of  University  College,  M.A.,  J.P. ; 
Richard  White,  born  1647;  Henry  White,  born  1648, 
who  succeeded  his  father  in  his  business  and  also 
became  Mayor  of  Oxford.  He  built  a  large  house 
at  Chalgrove,  near  Warborough,  Oxfordshire.  Gil- 
bert, born  1650,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Magdalen  College; 
and  Francis,  born  1652,  M.A.,  B.D.,  Fellow  of  Balliol 
College. 

Some  mention  is  made  by  Wood  of  these  sons 
of  Sir  Sampson.  John  White  is  spoken  of  as  a 
justice  of  the  peace  and  living  in  the  parish  of 
Witney,  f  '*  but  the  said  John  White,  showing  him- 
self too  malapert  when  the  popish  plot  broke  out, 
was  left  out  of  the  commission  [of  the  peace]  1679." 

*  Sir  Sampson  White's  hatchment,  together  with  that  of  his  son  Gilbert, 
was  preserved  in  Selborne  Church,  where  they  were  seen  in  1844  by  a 
member  of  the  author's  family,     They  have  since  disappeared. 

t  At  Swan  Hall  apparently.  Vide  map  in  Plot's  'Natural  History  of 
Oxfordshire,'  in  which  the  arms  of  "White,  Esq.,"  are  referred  by  number 
to  Haley,  in  Witney  parish. 


14  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE 

**The  next  brother  to  John  is  Henry  White," 
Mayor  of  Oxford  in  1691-2,  who  seems  to  have  been 
called  "  Squire  White."  After  him,  "  The  next  son 
is  Gilbert  White,  Fellow  of  Mag^-  College,  afterwards 
Rector  of  Selbourn,  in  Hampshire,  by  y^  gift  of  his 
College."  He  held  his  Fellowship  from  1672-81, 
being  presented  to  the  living  of  Brandeston,  Norfolk, 
21st  June,  1680.  In  February,  168f,  he  was  pre- 
sented to  Selborne,  Hants,  the  Register  of  Baptisms 
of  which  church  contains  the  following  entry  in  his 
handwriting : — 

"Gilbert  White  took  possession  of  y®  Church  June  y^ 
2S^  1681." 

His  grandson,  in  his  "Antiquities  of  Selborne, ""^ 
notes  that  at  this  time  the  living  of  Selborne  was  a 
very  small  vicarage,  and  after  giving  a  list  of  vicars, 
says  : — 

"June  1681.  This  living  was  now  in  such  low  estimation 
in  Magdalen  College,  that  it  descended  to  a  junior  fellow 
CHlhert  White,  M.A.,  who  was  instituted  to  it  in  the  thirty- 
first  year  of  his  age." 

In  what  humble  circumstances  the  rural  clergy 
were  sometimes  accustomed  to  live  at  this  date  is 
apparent  from  the  following  : — 

"At  his  first  coming  he  ceiled  the  chancel,  and  also  floored 
and  wainscoted  the  parlour  and  hall,  which  before  were 
paved  with  stone,  and  had  naked  walls;  he  enlarged  the 
kitchen  and  brewhouse,  and  dug  a  cellar  and  well :  he  also 

*  Letter  VI. 


THE  VICAE   OF   SELBOENE  15 

built  a  large  new  barn  in  the  lower  yard,  removed  the  hovels 
in  the  front  court,  which  he  laid  out  in  walks  and  borders ; 
and  entirely  planned  the  back  garden,  before  a  rude  field 
with  a  stone-pit  in  the  midst  of  it." 

The  vicar  married  Kebecca  Luckin,  the  daughter 
of  a  yeoman  of  Nore  Hill,  in  the  neighbouring 
parish  of  Newton  Valence.  She  outlived  her  husband 
some  years,  dying  in  1755  in  her  91st  year.  He 
died  in  1727,  and  his  virtues  and  charities  to  the 
parish  were  commemorated  by  a  tablet  in  the  chancel 
of  the  church.* 

Of  their  children,  who  lived  to  maturity,  their  son 
John  was  born  in  1688  and  baptised  at  Burstow,  in 
Surrey;  Mary,  born  in  1689,  married  the  Eev. 
Baptist  Isaac,  Kector  of  Whitwell  and  Ashwell, 
Eutland ;  Eebecca,  born  in  1694,  married  Henry 
Snooke  of  Eingmer,  Sussex,  Esquire ;  Dorothea, 
born  in  1696,  married  the  Eev.  W.  H.  Cane,  her 
father's  successor  in  the  vicarage  of  Selborne ;  and 
Elizabeth,  born  in  1698,  married  the  Eev.  Charles 
White,  Eector  of  Bradley  and  Swarraton,  who  was 
a  cousin. 

John  White,  of  the  Middle  Temple,  Barrister-at- 
law  and  J. P.  for  Hants,  the  vicar's  only  son  who 
lived  to  maturity,  married  on  September  29th,  1719, 

*  It  is  here  recorded  that  "he  consecrated  the  tithe  of  his  fortune  to  pious 
uses,"  viz.  £950,  which  he  specifically  bequeathed  "  to  charitable  uses "  by 
his  will.  Inter  alia  he  left  £40  for  repairs  to  the  church,  £200  for  repairs 
of  the  parish  highways,  and  £100  for  purchase  of  land,  "the  yearly  rents 
whereof  shall  be  employed  in  teaching  the  poor  children  of  Selborne  parish 
to  read  and  write  and  say  their  prayers  and  Catechism,  and  to  sew  and  knit." 


16  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE 

at  Rogate,  Sussex,  Anne,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Mrs.  Holt,  of  East  Harting,  Sussex,  the  widow  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Holt,  Rector  of  Streatham,  Surrey. 
Mrs.  Holt  was  daughter  and  heiress  of  Benjamin 
Hyde  (or  Hide),  of  Chichester,  Esquire,  a  Russia 
merchant;  whose  father,  Benjamin  Hyde,  in  return 
for  some  kindness  shown  to  King  Charles  I. 
when  a  prisoner  in  Carisbrook  Castle,  received 
from  the  King  his  ribbon  of  the  order  of  the 
Garter.  ^ 

Benjamin  Hyde,  jun.,  Mrs.  Holt's  father,  had 
married  Anne  Ford,  daughter  of  the  second  son  of 
Sir  William  Ford  of  Winchester,  t  who  brought  him 
property  at  East  Harting,  which  descended  to  Mrs. 
Holt. 

Upon  his  marriage  with  Miss  Holt,  John  White 
retired  from  London  and  the  Bar,  where  his 
practice  had  not  become  considerable. 

It  seems  probable  that  he  was  at  first  without  a 
fixed   residence,    for    in    the    summer    of    the    year 

•  The  ribbon,  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  a  member  of  the  White 
family,  is  enclosed  in  a  paper  inscribed,  "This  is  the  original  George  ribbon 
of  King  Charles  L,  and  given  to  Mr.  Benjamin  Hide,  when  the  King  was 
a  prisoner  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  kept  in  memory  of  that  good 
King."  Mr.  Hyde  was  certainly  not  "governor  of  Carisbrook  Castle"  as 
stated  by  Mr.  Bell  (vol.  i.  p.  xxii.);  but  probably,  as  a  shipowner,  was 
a  party  to  one  of  the  abortive  attempts  to  escape  to  France  planned  for 
the  King. 

t  The  Ford  family  was  of  some  note  in  Hampshire  and  Sussex.  Anne 
Ford's  uncle,  Sir  Edward  Ford  of  Up  Park,  Harting,  had  a  daughter 
Catherine,  who,  marrying  Ralph  Grey,  Arm.,  became  the  mother  of  Lord 
Grey  of  Werke,  created  Viscount  Glendale  and  Earl  of  Tankerville  by 
William  III.  A  Lord  Tankerville  purchased  property  at  Harting,  inherited 
through  Anne  Ford,  of  John  White  of  Selborne,  and  his  wife. 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^r 

^^^m 

^^^^^^^^H.      .^^H^^^^ 

V  ^f  W       X       ^ 

^    lil  r     V 

jfrmx. 


BIRTH   AT   SELBORNE  17 

following  that  of  his  marriage  he  and  his  wife  were 

'  staying  with  his  father  at  Selborne  Vicarage ;   and 

in  this  house,  on  July  18th,  1720,  was  born  his  eldest 

son  ;t    who,   though   he   lived   the   quiet   life   of    a 

;  scholar   and   naturalist,   was  destined  to   make   the 

name  of  his  secluded  and  obscure  native  village  a 

household    word    wherever    the    English    tongue    is 

I  spoken ;    to  link   it  with   his  own,  and  to  achieve 

posthumous  fame  as  Gilbert  White  of  Selborne. 

t  Fide  Gilbert  White's  little  poem,  **The  Invitation  to  Selborne,"  1.  61 
et  seq. — 

"  Nor  be  the  Parsonage  by  the  muse  forgot, 
j  The  partial  bard  admires  his  native  spot." 

He  was  christened  in  Selborne  Church  on  August  1st,  1720.  It  has  been 
j  assumed,  but  without  any  real  authority,  that  he  was  a  godson  of  the  vicar, 
'  who  mentions  one  grandson  only,  John,  as  "my  godson  "  in  his  will. 


VOL.  I. 


CHAPTER  11. 

After  quitting  his  fathers  vicarage  at  Selborne, 
John  White  and  his  wife  first  settled  at  Compton, 
about  four  miles  from  Guildford,  in  Surrey,  and 
there  remained  till  1727,  when  they  removed  for  a 
short  time  to  East  Harting,  probably  to  Mrs.  Holt's 
house  there,  where  their  son  Francis  was  born  in 
March,  172f.  Shortly  afterwards  they  removed  to 
Selborne,  where  they  took  up  their  residence  at  the 
house  then  known  as  "  late  Wake's "  with  John 
White's  mother,  who  had  been  left  a  widow  by  the 
death  of  the  Vicar  of  Selborne  on  February  13th, 
172 J,  and  had  consequently  removed  to  that  house 
from  the  vicarage.  Here  their  two  youngest  chil- 
dren, Anne  and  Henry,  were  born.  Mrs.  John 
White  died  in  1739  at  the  comparatively  early  age 
of  46,  after  an  attack  of  measles.  Her  husband 
did  not  marry  again. 

Gilbert  White's  relations  with  his  brothers  and 
sisters  were  so  constant  and  pleasant,  and  he  was 
so  much  indebted  to  his  brothers  Thomas,  Benjamin, 
John,  and  Henry  for  sympathy  and  assistance  in  his 

18 


THOMAS  WHITE  19 

studies  in  natural  history  ;  that,  at  the  risk  of  some 
repetition,  it  will  be  well  to  give  here  a  brief  account 
of  them. 

His  eldest  brother  Thomas,  born  at  Compton,  in 
Surrey,   on    October    13th,    1724,   was   educated   at 
Bishop's  Waltham,  Hants,  by  Mr.  Hampton  (father 
of  the  translator  of  '"Polybius"),  and  he  is  described 
,  by  his  nephew,  John  White,"*  as  *'  an  elegant  classic." 
He   went  into   a  wholesale   merchant's  business  in 
!  Thames  Street,  London,  as  a  young  man,  becoming 
a  partner  of  Mr.  William  Yalden,  a  brother  of  the 
Rev.   Richard  Yalden  of  Newton  Valence,  the  ad- 
i joining  parish  to  Selborne,  who  was  long  the  neigh- 
ibour   and   friend    of  Gilbert   White.      In    1758    he 
married  Mr.  W.  Yalden's  childless  widow.     In  1759 
a  daughter,  Mary,  was  born,  and  in  1763  his  wife 
'died,  shortly  after  giving  birth  to  twin  sons.     In 
'1776  he  came  into  full  possession  of  considerable 
I  estates  in  Essex  through  the  bequest  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Holt,  a  half-brother  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Holt, 
of  Streatham,  and  therefore  his  maternal  great-uncle 
in  the  half-blood,  whose  name  of  Holt  he  then  pre- 
fixed to  his  own  surname,  and,  retiring  from  business 
soon  afterwards,  settled  at  South  Lambeth,  where  he 
lived  until  his  death.     In  January,    1777,  he  was 
elected   a   Fellow  of   the   Royal  Society.     He   was 
also  a  "  citizen  and  apothecary."     During  the  latter 

•  In  a  pedigree  of  the  family  compiled  by  him  in  1826,  now  in  the 
"author's  possession. 


20  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE 

years  of  his  life  he  was  a  constant  contributor  upon 
the  most  varied  subjects  to  the  "  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine," as  already  stated,  chiefly  under  the  signature 
of  "  T.  H.  W.,"  a  series  of  articles  upon  "  The  Trees 
of  Great  Britain "  being  said  to  be  "  particularly 
deserving  of  notice  for  the  extensive  information, 
good  taste,  and  variety  of  reading  which  they  dis- 
play." ^  In  conjunction  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Thomas  Barker,  he  communicated  several  papers  to 
the  Eoyal  Society.  A  good  botanist,  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  scholar,  and  interested  in  antiquities,  he 
assisted  his  brother  in  the  preparation  of  his  book ; 
indeed,  it  was  largely  at  his  instance  and  owing 
to  his  solicitations  that  ''The  Natural  History  and 
Antiquities  of  Selborne"  was  prepared  for  publica-| 
tion.     He  died  in  February,   1797. 

Benjamin,  the  next  brother,  born  at  Compton  on 
September  15th,  1725,  was  also  educated  at  Bishop's 
Waltham.  Presumably  through  the  circumstance  of 
the  marriage  of  his  sister  Anne  to  Mr.  Barker,  who 
was  a  grandson  on  his  mother's  side  of  the  celebrated 
William  Whiston,  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
a  Mr.  Whiston,  who  was  a  relation  of  the  last-named, 
as  a  publisher  and  bookseller  at  the  sign  of  the 
"Horace's  Head,"  No.  51,  Fleet  Street.  He  became 
the  chief  publisher  of   his  time  of  works  relating 

*  The  late  Thomas  Rivers,  of  Sawbridgeworth,  the  pomologist,  ' 
struck  with  the  knowledge  displayed  in  these  essays  on  trees,  which  wer< 
shown  to  him  in  1855  by  their  author's  grandson,  the  late  Algernon  Holt 
White. 


BENJAMIN— EEBECCA— JOHN  WHITE         21 

to  natural  history,  and  prospered  in  business,  retir- 
ing to  the  then  rural  village  of  South  Lambeth 
about  the  same  time  as  his  brother  Thomas,  near 
whom  he  lived  there,  and  ultimately  to  a  house 
which  he  hired  of  Lord  Stawell,  Marelands,  in  the 
parish  of  Bentley,  Hants,  a  few  miles  from  Selborne. 
Here  he  died  in  March,  1794,  and  was  buried  at 
Selborne  near  his  brother  Gilbert.  He  married 
first,  in  1753,  Anne  Yalden,  a  sister  of  the  Rev. 
R.  Yalden,  Vicar  of  Newton  Valence ;  and  secondly, 
in  1786,  Mary,  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  R.  Yalden. 
By  his  first  wife  he  had  a  numerous  family,  and  was 
succeeded  in  business  by  his  sons  Benjamin  and 
John,  the  latter  of  whom  records  that  his  father 
was  "  citizen  and  Merchant  Taylor,  drank  to  as 
Sheriff*  in  Alderman  Sainsbury's  mayoralty,  1787." 
His  son  Edmund  became  Vicar  of  Newton  Valence 
in  1784,  after  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Richard 
Yalden. 

Reheccay  the  eldest  daughter  of  John  White  who 
grew  up,  was  born  at  Compton  on  October  24th, 
1726.  In  1761  she  married  Mr.  Henry  Woods,  a 
merchant  in  London,  son  of  John  Woods,  Esq.,  of 
Chilgrove,  near  Chichester,  Sussex.  The  house  of 
his  relations  (by  marriage)  at  Chilgrove  is  frequently 
mentioned  by  Gilbert  White,  who  used  often  to  stay 
there  on  his  annual  journey  along  the  Downs  to  his 
aunt  at  Ringmer.     Mrs.  Woods  died  in  1771. 

John,  the  next  brother,  born  at  Compton  on 
September  20th,   1727,  was  probably  little  inferior 


22  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE 

even  to  his  eldest  brother  Gilbert  as  a  naturalist. 
He  was  elected  to  a  (Surrey)  scholarship  at  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford,  where  he  was  admitted  on 
March  12th,  174f,  and  took  his  B.A.  degree  in  1749. 
He  was  ordained  in  1753  and  became  a  curate  at 
Barnet  and  in  London.  In  1754  he  married,  and 
in  1756  proceeded  to  Gibraltar  as  chaplain  to  the 
garrison  there.  While  abroad  he  maintained  a 
constant  correspondence  with  his  brother  Gilbert, 
and  towards  the  end  of  his  sojourn  on  the  Rock 
wrote  to  and  received  some  letters  from  Linnaeus 
upon  natural  history  subjects,  concerning  which  he 
accumulated  much  material.  Returning  to  England 
in  1772,  he  became,  on  the  presentation  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Vicar  of  Blackburn,  and 
there  prepared  his  natural  history  notes  and  caused 
illustrations  to  be  made  with  a  view  to  their  publi- 
cation, which,  however,  never  took  place. ^  He  died, 
after  a  long  illness,  at  Blackburn,  in  November, 
1780.  After  his  death  his  widow  came  to  reside 
at  Selborne  with  her  brother-in-law,  whom  she  out- 
lived. 

Of  another  brother,  Francis,  there  is  but  little 
to  say.  He  was  born  at  East  Harting,  Sussex,  on 
March  3rd,  172f.  '^Brother  Franky,"  in  London, 
is  mentioned  in  a  letter  of  Gilbert  White's  written 
in  1746.  In  a  pedigree  of  the  family  drawn  up  by 
James  White   (son  of  Benjamin)  and  corrected  by 

•  The  probable  fate  of  the  work  on  the  Fauna  of  Gibraltar  is  discussed 
injra,  vol.  ii.  p.  66. 


FEANCIS— ANNE— HENEY  WHITE  23 

his  uncle  Gilbert,  it  is  stated  that  Francis  White 
married  and  had  one  daughter,  who  died  an 
infant,  and  that  he  died  in  1750  and  was  buried 
at  Islington. 

Anne,  the  next  daughter  of  John  White,  was 
born  at  Selborne  on  April  2nd,  1731.  She  married 
Thomas  Barker,  of  Lyndon  Hall,  Rutland,  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  collateral  branch  of  an  ancient  family, 
of  which  Sir  Abel  Barker,  Bart.,  of  Hambleton,  in 
the  same  county,  was  the  head.  Mrs.  Barker  had 
one  son  and  three  daughters.  Frequent  visits  and 
much  correspondence  were  exchanged  between  the 
Barker  family  and  Gilbert  White,  Mr.  Barker  himself 
being  a  man  of  some  literary  and  scientific  know- 
ledge, and  his  only  son,  Samuel,  an  apt  disciple  of 
his  uncle  in  natural  history  researches.  Mr.  Barker 
died  in  1809,  and  his  wife  in  1807. 

The  youngest  son,  Henry,  was  born  at  Selborne 
on  June  25th,  1733.  He  was  educated  by  Dr. 
Woodeson  at  Kingston-on-Thames,  and  under  his 
eldest  brother  s  auspices  proceeded  to  Oriel  College, 
Oxford,  where  he  took  his  M.A.  degree.  He  took 
Orders  and  obtained  the  (Chancellor's)  living  of 
Tidworth,  Wilts.  In  1762  he  became  Eector  of 
Fyfield,  and  also  subsequently  Vicar  of  Uphaven, 
Wilts.  His  brother  Gilbert  was  a  frequent  visitor 
at  Fyfield,  from  which  place  some  of  his  letters  to 
Pennant  are  dated.  Henry  White  married  a  Miss 
Cooper,  of  Oxford,  by  whom  he  had  a  numerous 
family.     Several  of  his  nephews  and  a  few  strangers 


24  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBOENE 

were  received  by  him  at  Fyfield  to  be  educated  with 
his  own  children.  He  died  at  Fyfield  in  December, 
1788. 

The  village  and  neighbourhood  of  Selborne  have 
been  so  often  described,  and  are  so  well  known  to 
Gilbert  White's  disciples  and  admirers,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  very  particularly  dwell  upon  them 
here.  Nevertheless,  since  its  position  of  great  seclu- 
sion, and  certain  of  its  natural  features  had  un- 
doubtedly much  to  do  with  the  life  and  habits  of 
its  ardent  admirer  and  lifelong  resident,  Gilbert 
White,  the  subject  cannot  be  entirely  disregarded. 

The  village  lies,  then,  almost  equidistant  about 
five  miles,  from  the  Southampton  and  Portsmouth 
coach  roads  respectively ;  and  in  the  naturalist's  time, 
and  for  many  years  afterwards,  it  could  only  be 
reached  from  these  roads  through  one  of  three  lanes, 
as  regards  which  the  traveller  would  probably  have 
been  puzzled  to  say  which  he  considered  to  be  the 
worst.  Turning  from  the  main  road  to  Southampton 
at  the  little  town  of  Alton,  he  might  go  along  a 
narrow,  winding  lane  past  West  Worldham  to  Harte- 
ley,  whence  he  would  travel  (upon  the  native  rock !) 
for  about  two  miles  between  steep  and  almost  per- 
pendicular banks,  so  near  to  each  other  that  carriages 
could  not  pass  one  another  except  at  particular 
points.  This  is  one  of  the  "two  rocky  hollow 
lanes"  described  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  letter 
to  Pennant     Bad  as  the  author  of  these  letters  knew 


EOADS  TO   SELBORNE  25 

this  lane  to  be,  he  used  it  sometimes,  as  appears 
from  some  of  his  private  letters,  even  in  winter. 
In  truth,  the  traveller  in  his  day  had  but  little 
choice  of  a  better  route.  He  might,  indeed,  turn  off 
the  main  road  before  reaching  Alton,  at  Farnham, 
and  take  that  towards  Petersfield ;  then,  skirting 
Wolmer  Forest,  he  would  find  himself  approaching 
Selborne  through  the  hamlfet  of  Oakhanger,  whence, 
leaving  the  sandy  forest  ground,  he  could  reach 
Selborne  through  the  second  "rocky  hollow  lane." 
This  lane  had,  indeed,  as  Gilbert  White  records,^ 
benefited  from  the  bequest  of  a  sum  of  £200  by 
his  grandfather,  which  "  was  carefully  and  judiciously 
laid  out  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1730  by  his  son 
John  White,  who  made  a  solid  and  firm  causey  from 
Rood-green,  all  down  Honey-lane,  to  a  farm  called 
Oakwoods,  where  the  sandy  soil  begins." 

This,  however,  was  rather  a  roundabout  way  to 
Selborne,  and  probably  the  remaining  lane,  which 
seems  to  have  been  more  generally  used,  w^as  the 
most  practicable  route  to  the  village.  Following  the 
Southampton  road  past  Alton  to  East  Tisted,  the 
traveller  turned  from  it  at  that  village,  at  the 
Horse  and  Jockey  Inn,  and  entered  Selborne  through 
a  rough  country  road,  which,  though  not  so  long  as 
the  Harteley  lane,  had  nevertheless  the  disadvantage 
of  a  steep  and  stony  hill  to  be  descended. 

There  was,  and  indeed  is,  a  fourth  road,  or  rather 

*  Vide  "Tho  Antiquities  of  Selborne,"  Letter  VI. 


26  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE 

lane,  of  a  rough  description  to  Selborne,  over  the 
hills  from  Greatham  on  the  Farnham  and  Petersfield 
road,  but  it  would  not  have  been  used  by  visitors 
travelling  from  London. 

The  seclusion  of  Selborne  residents,  consequent  on 
the  wretched  state  of  its  roads,  may  well  be  gathered 
from  the  following  significant  entry  made  by  Gilbert 
AVliite  in  his  journal,  or  Garden  Kalendar  as  he 
termed  it,  under  date  March  15th,   1756  : — 

"Brought  a  four-wheel'd  postchaise  to  y®  door  at  that 
early  time  of  year." 

What  a  revelation  of  county  life  in  winter  at  this 
time,  especially  for  the  ladies  of  the  family,  this  entry 
affords ! 

It  may  be  remarked  that  when  he  had  chosen  his 
road  and  was  prepared  to  encounter  its  difficulties, 
the  travellers  troubles  were  by  no  means  at  an 
end.  Gilbert  White's  college  companion,  John  Mulso, 
though  he  had  frequently  visited  his  friend  at  Sel- 
borne, regularly  wrote  for  a  guide  to  meet  him  "at 
the  cross-roads,"  remarking  that  Selborne  was  as 
difficult  of  access  as  Rosamund's  bower,  and  com- 
paring his  Selborne  friends  to  "toto  divisos  orbe 
Britannos." 

When  the  village  was,  however,  at  length  reached 
through  one  of  the  difficult  and  winding  lanes,  a 
person  who  had  any  eyes  for  natural  beauty  must 
have  been  hard  to  please,  if  he  were  not  charmed 
with  its  appearance.     A  small,  very  clear  stream  of 


DESCEIPTION  OF   SELBORNE  27 

water  emerging  from  the  chalk  has  hollowed  out  a 
little  wooded  valley,  and  flows  roughly  from  west 
to  east,  past  what  was  in  the  eighteenth  century  an 
old  timber-framed  vicarage,  and  its  garden  with 

".  .  .  its  scapes  grotesque  and  wild, 
High  on  a  mound  th'  exalted  gardens  stand. 
Beneath,  deep  vallies  scoop'd  by  Nature's  hand,"  * 

past  the  old  church  with  its  low,  square  tower,  and 
through  the  meadows — called  the  long  and  short 
lythes — and  so  past  the  site  of  the  ruined  priory  to 
Farnham  and  the  River  Wey.  On  the  south  side 
of  this  little  valley  runs  the  village  street  of  thatched, 
timber-framed  cottages,  dominated,  a  little  further 
south  again,  by  an  abrupt  hill,  perhaps  300  feet  in 
height,  clothed  with  a  beech  wood,  or  "  Hanger." 
From  the  top  of  this  eminence  a  charmingly  timbered, 
park-like  down  stretches  southwards,  and  afibrds 
extensive  and  very  beautiful  views  in  all  directions 
over  a  hilly  country — the  long  line  of  the  downs 
above  Portsmouth  to  the  south,  the  hills  about  Mid- 
hurst  and  Haslemere  on  the  east,  Wolmer  Forest, 
and  Hindhead  to  the  north-east,  and  the  rolling  and 
wooded  upland  country  from  Alton  towards  Alresford 
on  the  ^vest,  being  prominent  objects  of  the  view. 
A  land  of  woods  and  streams,  and  therefore  an 
especially  good  country  for  birds — a  character  which 
it  retains  to  this  day. 

Always   happy   in    his   quotations,    the    historian 

*   Vide  "  The  Invitation  to  Selborne,"  by  Gilbert  White. 


28  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF  SELBOENE 

of  Selborne  well  described  his  neighbourhood  in  the 
lines  in  which  Ulysses  pictures  his  native  Ithaca, 
which  he  inserted  on  the  title-page  of  his  *' Natural 
History  " — 

"  Tprj-)(^el,  dXX^dyaOr)  KOvpoTp6c{>os,  ovtl  eywyc 
"^Hs  yairjs  Svvafxat  yXvKepiorepov  aXXo  iSecr^at."  * 

Fronting  to,  and  opening  upon  the  little  village 
street,  almost  opposite  the  "  Plestor "  and  church, 
stood  a  modest  house  somewhat  irregularly  built 
of  stone  edged  with  red  bricks.  This  house,  ap- 
parently erected  about  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  is  now  known  by  the  name  of  "Wake's," 
or  "  The  Wakes."  It  had  at  the  back  a  pleasant 
parlour  on  the  first  floor,  from  whose  low  window- 
seats  could  be  seen  a  garden  opening  into  several 
little  fields ;  which,  dotted  with  trees  singly  and  in 
small  clumps,  stretched  up  to  the  dark  and  towering 
beechen  Hanger;  a  charming  little  park-like  territory, 
the  home  and  playground  of  the  various  birds  whose 
history  so  largely  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
philosopher  of  Selborne. 

Here  he  spent  his  boyhood  after  his  parents  settled 
in  Selborne  in  his  tenth  or  eleventh  year;  and  this 
house,  in  spite  of  occasional  absences  owing  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  school  and  university  and  two  or  three  short 
curacies  (to  say  nothing  of  his  numerous  journeys  to 
different  parts  of  England),  he  never  ceased  to  regard 
as  his  much-loved  home  during  his  whole  life. 

•  "A  rough  but  good  nursing-mother,  nor  can  I  see  a  sweeter  land  than  this." 


CHAPTER  III. 

Of  Gilbert  White's  early  years  there  is  indeed  little 
on  record.  For  people  who  are  interested  in  such 
trifles  it  may  be  recorded  that  he  was  "  bred  up 
by  hand,"  as  he  mentions  in  a  letter  to  his  niece 
Mary,  written  in  1784.  Some  part  of  his  boyhood 
was  spent  at  Farnham,  a  fact  which  he  recorded  in 
his  "Naturalist's  Journal"  when  staying,  in  the  last 
year  of  his  life,  with  his  brother  Benjamin,  who  had 
retired  to  Mareland,  in  the  parish  of  Bentley,  near 
that  town  :  "  The  sweet  peal  of  bells  at  Farnham 
.  .  .  occasioning  agreeable  associations  in  the  mind, 
and  remembrances  of  the  days  of  my  youth,  when 
1  once  resided  in  the  town." 

If  at  school  at  Farnham,  it  was  probably  at  a 
dame's  school,  but  he  may  possibly  have  been  at  the 
grammar  school  there,  which  was  founded  in  1611. 
He  was  certainly  sent  afterwards,  though  at  what 
date  is  uncertain,  to  Basingstoke  Grammar  School, "^ 
the  headmaster  of  which,  the  Vicar,  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Warton,   father  of  two  sons — Joseph,  who 

*  The  building,  now  a  ruin,  was  used  as  a  school  up  to  1855. 
29 


30  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE 

matriculated  at  Oriel  College  in  the  same  year  as 
Gilbert  White,  and  Thomas.  They  became  men 
of  some  literary  eminence,  and  were  respectively 
headmaster  of  Winchester  College ;  and  Professor 
of  Poetry  at  Oxford  and  Poet  Laureate.  Neither  of 
them,  however,  can  have  been  for  any  length  of 
time  school-fellows  of  the  Selborne  naturalist,  since 
Joseph  Warton  went  to  Winchester  in  1736,  and 
Thomas  was  born  in  1728,  and  therefore  eight  years 
the  junior  of  Gilbert  White. 

One  incident  of  his  school  days  at  Basingstoke 
is  mentioned  in  *'The  Antiquities  of  Selborne," 
Letter  XXVI. 

"When  a  schoolboy,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  he  [the 
author]  was  eye-witness,  perhaps  a  party  concerned,  in 
the  undermining  a  portion  of  that  fine  old  ruin  at  the 
north  end  of  Basingstoke  town,  well  known  by  the  name 
of  Holy  Ghost  Chapel.  Very  providentially  the  vast  frag- 
ment which  these  thoughtless  little  engineers  endeavoured 
to  sap  did  not  give  way  so  soon  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected; but  it  fell  the  night  following,  and  with  such 
violence  that  it  shook  the  very  ground,  and,  awakening 
the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  cottages,  made  them 
start  up  in  their  beds  as  if  they  had  felt  an  earthquake. 
The  motive  for  this  dangerous  attempt  does  not  appear: 
perhaps  the  more  danger  the  more  honour,  thought  the 
boys;  and  the  notion  of  doing  some  mischief  gave  a  zest 
to  the  enterprize.  As  Dryden  says  upon  another  occasion, 
"  *  It  look'd  so  like  a  sin  it  pleas'd  the  more.*" 

In  his  first  letter  to  Pennant  (which,  from  the 
insertion   of    preliminary    matter     when    his    book 


1736-9        GOES   TO   BASINGSTOKE  SCHOOL  31 

was  prepared  for  publication,  became  Letter  X.) 
Gilbert  White  states  that  he  had  been  from  his 
childhood  attached  to  the  study  of  natural  infor- 
mation. Confirmation  of  this  appears  in  a  MS. 
diary  kept  by  Thomas  Barker,  of  Lyndon  Hall, 
Kutland,  who  subsequently  became  his  brother-in- 
law  : — 

"  1736.— March  31.     A  flock  of  wild  Geese  flew  N.— G.  W. 
„        April      6.     The  cuckow  heard. — G.  W." 

The  initials  certainly  refer  to  an  observer,  and  are 
doubtless  those  of  Gilbert  White,  who,  then  a  boy 
of  fifteen,  was  probably  staying  with  his  uncle  and 
aunt,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac,  at  Whitwell  Kectory,  near 
Lyndon — perhaps  on  an  Easter  holiday.  Writing 
in  his  seventy-first  year  to  Kobert  Marsham,  he  men- 
tions that  he  himself  had  been  '*an  early  planter"; 
since,  in  1731,  as  a  boy  of  eleven  years,  he  had 
planted  an  oak  and  an  ash  tree  in  his  father's 
grounds  at  Selborne. 

Throughout  his  life  it  was  Gilbert  White's  me- 
thodical habit  to  make  regular  entries  of  his  ex- 
penses, receipts,  and  other  items;  and  accordingly 
the  following  entry  occurs  in  his  pocket-book,  to- 
gether with  "  an  account  of  my  cloaths,"  of  the 
same  date  : — 

"An  Account  of  Books  that  I  carryed  to  Basingstoke 
January  17,  173f. 

"  Greek  Testament  bound  with  the  Common  prayer. 
Whole  Duty  of  Man. 


32  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1739 

Latin  Grammar. 

Two  Greek  Grammars. 

Walker's  Particles  in  two  VoUumes. 

Hill's  Lexicon. 

Terence. 

Erasmus. 

Cornelius  Nepos. 

Bible. 

Sallust. 

Castalio's  Latin  Testament. 

Xenophon  de  Cyri  Insti : 

Sallust  Delphin.  ^   All  these  to  be  returned 

Tully's  Epistles  Ditto  I       to  Uncle  White  when 

Horace  Ditto  J       I  leave  Basingstoke.* 

Virgil  Delphin. 

Homer. 

Ainsworth's  Dictionary, 

Isocrates. 

Tompson's  Seasons. 

Scholar's  Manual. 

Practical  Greek  Grammar. 

Tacitus. 

A  Translation  of  Horace. 

Gradus. 

Horace  (little). 

Csesar's  Commentaries. 

Wilkins's  Natural  Religion. 

*  From  this  sentence,  and  indeed  from  the  occurrence  of  the  whole  list 
of  books  at  this  time,  it  might  almost  be  inferred  that  this  was  the  date  of 
the  first  admission  to  Basingstoke  Grammar  School,  notwithstanding  the 
statement  of  his  nephew  John  White  (who  was  not  always  as  exact  as  he 
might  have  been  in  his  remarks)  in  his  "Advertisement"  to  the  second 
edition  of  his  uncle's  book  (2  vols.  8vo,  1802),  that  the  naturalist  "received 
his  school  education  at  Basingstoke."  If  this  surmise  is  correct,  Farnham 
Grammar  School  is  probably  responsible  for  the  chief  portion  of  his  education, 
but  since  no  records  of  either  school  are  extant  the  matter  is  unlikely  to  be 
ever  cleared  up. 


^739  ENTERS   ORIEL  COLLEGE  33 

Tullie's  Orations  Delph. 
Horace,  Minel. 
Tully  de  Oratore  Delph. 
Introduction  to  the  Lord's  Supper." 

A  list  which  would  seem  to  indicate  a  respectable 
imount  of  scholarship  in  a  boy  of  eighteen. 

On  December  17th,  1739,  he  was  admitted  a 
Commoner  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  but  does  not 
3eem  to  have  resided  till  April,  1740,  when  certain 
"cloaths,"  in  the  shape  of  sheets,  etc.,  were  sent  to 
Oxford.  On  November  18th,  1740,  he  paid,  how- 
3ver,  university  fees  **  for  a  whole  year  to  November 
18,"  and  at  this  date  he  paid  his  "caution  money" 
[£8),  bought  a  gown,  paid  £4  5s.  7d.  for  "thirds  of 
my  room,"  i.e.  for  its  furniture,  which  he  supple- 
mented with  '*  chairs  of  Mr.  Bentham,"  his  tutor 
No  record  is  kept  of  the  rooms  occupied  by  under- 
graduates ;  but  probably  his  rooms  were  in  the  front 
[quadrangle  at  Oriel,  since  there  is  mention  of  the 
letting  of  "the  little  room  belonging  to  my  chamber 
bo  Mr.  Andrews  servitor  for  105.  a  year,"  the  rooms 
in  the  inner  quadrangle  not  having  two  bedrooms. 
There  are  numerous  entries  of  purchases  of  books, 
some  of  them  being  of  a  religious  character ;  but 
entries  of  the  purchase  of  gun  flints,  a  "  shot- 
charger  and  powderhorn,"  "  pair  of  spurs,"  "  a  day's 
ride,"  "to  the  music  club,"  and  on  one  occasion 
"  boat  hire,"  show  that  his  life  was  not  an  absolutely 
ascetic  one. 

VOL.  I. — D 


34  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE        1742-3 

Writing  to  liim  many  years  after  this  time,  the 
Rev.  John  Mulso — his  contemporary  at  Oriel  and 
lifelong  intimate  friend — says  : — 

"  I  do  not  ever  remember  your  shooting  a  snipe  at  Oxford 
in  summer,  where  there  used  to  be  plenty  in  winter :  at  that 
time  you  used  to  practise  with  your  gun  in  summer  to 
steady  your  hand  for  winter,  and  inhospitably  fetch  down 
our  visitants  the  birds  of  passage." 

During  the  long  vacation  of  1742,  a  three  months' 
visit  was  paid  to  his  relations  at  Whitwell  Rectory, 
Rutland.  Time  passed,  and  on  June  13th,  1743, 
we  find  him  taking  out  a  **liceat  for  examination," 
of  course  for  his  B.A.  degree. 

This  examination  in  those  days,  and  long  after- 
wards, was  not  quite  so  elaborate  as  it  now  is.  In 
those  fortunate  times  Gilbert  White  would  have 
appeared  before  two  Masters  of  Arts  of  his  own 
college,  and  suffered  at  their  hands  but  a  very  briel 
examination,  which,  if  not  entirely,  was  probably 
chiefly  oral.  On  June  17th  he  is  able  to  make  the 
entry  in  his  pocket-book  : —  i 

"  For  a  Testamur  and  ringing  the  Bells 

for  examination  .  .         .     1^  6*^" 

and  on  the  same  day  he  writes  his  name  in  thi 
Vice-Chancellor's  book  (and  pays  a  shilling).  On 
June  22nd  occurs  this  entry : — 

"  Proctor's  men  and  major  .         .     1^  6^  " 

University  men  may  perhaps  recollect  occasions  01 
which  their  payments  to  the  Proctor  were  not  of 


■300 


h  truck :  qJt's ■  - 

i  ?ii\iul,  Jena/,  ic  p-tMn'f 

^  iV^v— ^ 

:f<Lh-{Cikrf  c 


1.  CUP   PRESENTED  TO   SiR   SaMPSON    WhITE   AT   THE   CORONATION   OF   ChARLES    II. 

2.  POCKET  ACCOUNT-BOOK  used  by  Gilbert  White  at  Oxford 

[To  face  p.  34,  Vol  I. 


1744 


B.A.     FELLOW   OF   OKIEL  35 


quite  voluntary  character,  but  this  entry  probably 
merely  refers  to  a  customary  fee,  as  does  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  June  2T^  major  and  scout        .         .     3«  0^  " 

On  the  same  day  he  pays  the  fees  for  his  degree, 
and  on  the  following  day  he  was  evidently  in  need 
of  recreation,  for  he  expends  45.  on  '*  Horse  hire 
and  Dinner,"  and  the  same  sum  on  wine. 

Then  he  quitted  residence  for  Selborne.  He 
kept  the  next  Michaelmas  Term  as  a  Bachelor, 
bringing  up  his  gun  and  a  dog,  and  continued  his 
residence  during  the  following  Lent  Term,  when  he 
pays  fees  to  the  Dean  and  the  Beadle  "  for  Determin- 
ing." He  attends  "Dr.  Bradley's  first  course  of 
Mathematical  Lectures,"  and  on  March  30th,  1744, 
he  pays  fees  to  the  Vice-Chancellor  s  servant  and  to 
'  the  ringers  at  S.  Mary's  on  being  elected  a  Fellow  of 
Oriel.  His  actual  election,  however,  occurred  shortly 
before  this  date,  and  therefore  in  1743  O.S. 

That  Gilbert  White  was  a  man  of  sound  scholar- 
ship and  wide  reading  needs  nojproof — his  writings 
abundantly  show  it.  Nevertheless,  it  has  been  a 
little  the  fashion  to  assume  that  but  a  very  small 
modicum  of  learning  was  demanded  of  candidates 
for  fellowships  in  his  day.  That  other  things  be- 
sides scholarship  were  considered,  must  be  admitted ; 
nevertheless  an  examination  was  held.  By  a  statute 
made  by  Oriel  College  in  1722,  it  was  laid  down 
that  the  election  of  fellows  was  to  take  place  on 


36  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1744 

Friday  after  Easter :  "  Candidates  to  appear  not 
later  than  the  Wednesday  before,  candidates  to  be 
examined  on  the  Thursday,  and  the  election  to  be 
completed  before  6  o'clock  p.m.  on  the  Friday." 

Thomas  Hearn,  the  Oxford  antiquary,  in  his  diary 
of  May  27th,  1709,  writes  : — 

"  This  day  was  an  election  of  fellows  at  Oriel  Coll.  There 
were  three  vacancies  and  nine  candidates  for  them,  there 
were  two  of  Oriel  Coll.  who  stood,  and  one  of  them  came 
in  as  being  pupil  to  one  of  those  chiefly  concerned  in  the 
election.  The  second  was  of  Merton  and  the  third  of 
"P^adham  Coll.  Mr.  Johnson  an  ingenious*  good-natured 
modest  Gent,  of  Ch.  Ch.  stood  and  performed  better,  at 
least  as  well  as  any ;  but  interest  swayed  (notwithstanding 
what  was  given  out  both  before  the  election  and  since) 
as  I  have  been  informed  by  one  of  the  College,  an  observer 
of  the  transaction  but  perfectly  unprejudiced  (as  having 
nothing  to  do  in  the  election  one  way  or  other)  and  one 
of  the  electors  has  himself  declared  that  he  was  engaged 
some-time  before  the  time  of  trial  by  a  gentleman  in  the 
country.  So  that  both  in  this  as  well  as  other  colleges 
things  are  managed  by  interest,  not  by  merit." 

Evidently  interest  was  not  altogether  absent,  but 
the  above  extract  at  least  shows  that  there  was  a 
trial,  i.e.  an  examination,  and  it  should  be  noted 
that  at  this  time  Oriel  fellowships  were  open  to 
candidates  from  other  colleges,  which  was  then  a 
quite  exceptional  practice. 

Dr.   Shadwell,    writing   the   account   of    Oriel   in 

*  i.e.  well-born. 


1744  PEOBATIONARY  YEAR  37 

Clark's  'Colleges  of  Oxford/ "^  states  that  "the 
election  to  fellowships  was  singularly  free  from 
restriction  :  for  most  of  them  there  was  no  limita- 
tion of  birth,  locality,  or  kindred,  and  no  class  of 
junior  members  had  any  title  to  preference."  So 
that  it  may  be  reasonably  concluded  that  something 
considerably  greater  than  a  slight  modicum  of  learn- 
ing was  required,  even  at  this  time,  in  the  new 
Fellow  of  Oriel;  who  proved  to  be  in  after-life  a 
man  of  scholarly  tastes,  keeping  up  his  classical 
knowledge,  while  he  did  not  permit  its  claims  to 
exclude  the  study  of  history  and  travel,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  devotion  to  natural  history. 

During  his  probationary  year  Gilbert  White,  of 
course,  resided  at  Oxford,  and  there  he  spent  the 
summer  of  1744.  From  this  time  to  the  year  1791, 
two  years  before  Gilbert  White's  death,  a  complete 
series  of  letters  from  an  Oriel  contemporary  has  been 
preserved  and  will  be  freely  quoted  from.  This 
correspondent,  who  continued  all  his  life  on  terms  of 
sincere  friendship  with  Gilbert  White,  was  John 
Mulso,t  the  second  son  of  Thomas  Mulso,  of  Twywell, 
Northamptonshire,  who  lived,  however,  chiefly  in 
London,  the  representative  of  a  family  long  settled 
in  that  county.  Born  in  1721,  John  Mulso  was 
educated  at  Winchester  College,  which  he  left  third 
on  the  roll  in  the  same  year  (1740)  as  Collins  the 

*  p.  121. 

t  Unfortunately  the  letters  from  Gilbert  White  were  destroyed  after  the 
death  of  John  Mulso. 


38  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1744 

poet,  who  was  first,  and  Joseph  Warton,  who  was 
second.      Apparently  he  first  made  Gilbert  White's 
acquaintance    at    Oriel    College,    where    Mulso   was  i 
slightly  the  junior  in  standing.  I 

Mulso  frequently  mentions  his  eldest  brother, 
Thomas,  who  married  a  Miss  Prescott  on  the  same 
day  (in  1760)  that  his  only  sister  Hester  married  w 
a  friend  of  Richardson  the  novelist,  one  Chapone, 
an  attorney  practising  in  the  Temple.  Another 
brother,  Edward  (Ned)  Mulso,  who  died  in  1782 
unmarried,  is  also  often  mentioned.  With  all  the 
members  of  this  family  Gilbert  White  was  on  terms 
of  affectionate  intimacy. 

Writing  from  Leeds  Abbey,  near   Maidstone,  in 
Kent,  on  July  18th,  1744,  John  Mulso  says — 

Dear  Gil, — I  suppose  that  by  this  time  you  are  returned 
to  Oxford  to  prove  to  the  Orielenses  how  worthy  you  are  to 
be  a  Fellow,  how  compatible  that  title  is  with  the  character 
of  the  gentleman,  that  without  Formality  Eespect  may  be 
preserved,  and  that  to  depend  does  not  always  signifie  to  be 
servile.  I  long  to  hear  from  you  and  to  know  the  state  of 
that  poor  college,  which  I  do  not  expect  to  see  again  these 
many  months.  Let  me  know  what  sort  of  liberties  you 
are  allowed,  and  who  remains  to  share  them  with  you 
and  make  them  sweeter.  ...  I  saw  Collins*  in  town, 
he  is  entirely  an  author,  and  hardly  speaks  out  of  rule.  I 
hope  his  subscriptions  go  on  well  in  Oxford.  .  .  .  My  mother 
loves  you,  you  have  a  strong  party  in  a  family  that  you 
never  saw,  but  I  claim  your  heart,  and  am,  with  sincerity, 
Your  affectionate  friend  and  humble  servant, 

J.  MULSO. 

*  The  poet. 


1744 


LETTERS   FROM   MULSO  39 


In  August,  1744,  the  same  correspondent  wr'tes 
that  he  had  for  the  first  time  seen  the  sea  at  Hearn — 
"A  sight  which  I  have  often  been  obHged  by  you  with  a 
description  of,  and  now  find  the  justness  of  your  description. 
.  .  The  Ladies  at  Canterbury  are  insufferably  handsome, 
I  never  met  in  one  place  such  an  assembly  of  Beauties,  I 
believe.  I  saved  my  heart  by  the  beautiful  confusion.  I 
could  justly  say  'defendit  numerus';  I  was  vastly  amused 
at  your  account  of  your  danger  in  that  way.  ...  I  have  seen 
some  pretty  good  pictures  since  I  have  been  out,  but  why  do 
I  mention  pictures  to  you  who  have  seen  Burleigh.  .  .  .  My 
mother  loves  you  so  much  that  I  am  almost  jealous  of 
you.  She  says  you  speak  her  very  sentiment  in  your  judg- 
ment of  the  Odyssey.  She  thanks  you  for  your  advice  to 
me,  and  I  suppose  now  I  am  returned  to  Leeds  [Abbey] 
I  shall  be  forced  to  mount  pretty  often,  and  desert 
my  dear  corner.  I  don't  find  any  great  propensity  to 
poetry.  ...  I  have  not  seen  a  verse  since  I  left  you,  nor 
hardly  heard  one  quoted,  so  that  I  am  not  incited  to  it. 
I  believe  the  return  to  this  dull  place  would  have  made  me 
hang  myself,  if  we  had  not  brought  back  with  us  a  little 
company  from  Canterbury:  like  you  and  Falstaff,  I  hate 
compulsion,  and  I  am  sure  I  stay  here  against  my  will." 

On  September  4tli  he  writes  again,  exhorting  his 
friend  to  come  and  visit  his  family  in  London.  He 
continues — 

"  I  suppose  Treufle  is  in  high  favour  now ;  he  is  in  season, 
and  by  this  time  has  beat  round  all  the  manor  where  you 
obtained  leave  to  shoot.  .  .  .  Tell  me  how  you  all  go  on  at 
Oxford.  Tell  me  if  Jenny  has  resumed  her  Empire,  and 
totally  expelled  her  rival  the  Stamfordian.  Tell  me  if 
she  shall  be  your  Penelope,  for  since  your  reading  the 
Odyssey,  I  suppose  you  have  learned  to  despise  the  whip- 
syllabub  names  of  Amoret  and  Saccharyssa." 


40  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1745 

Towards  the  end  of  tlie  month  Gilbert  White  rode 
home  to  Selborne  (with  his  gun  in  a  leathern  bucket). 
On  October  8th,  1744,  Mulso  writes — 

"...  Do  you  really  find  celibacy  hang  heavy  on  your 
hands,  or  does  Tom  only  jest  when  he  says  that  you 
are  on  the  high  road  to  the  dreary  and  dolorous  land  of 
matrimony  ?  Upon  my  word,  I  would  not  advise  you  to  play 
so  much  as  you  do  with  the  tangles  of  Nea^ra's  hair :  these 
meshes  will  hold  fast  a  heart  of  stronger  wing  for  flight  than 
yours  is,  and  if 

*  Beauty  draws  us  with  a  single  hair,' 

it  may  very  well  hold  with  a  whole  tete.  .  .  .  Collins  is 
now  my  next  neighbour.  I  have  breakfasted  with  him  this 
morning." 

On  November  6th,  1744,  Mulso  writes  from 
London — 

"  I  turn  my  eye  towards  Selbourne.-  I  long  to  see  an  old 
friend  in  a  new  place.  But  alas !  journeys  are  too  expensive 
for  a  younger  brother." 

In  February,  174f,  residence  at  Oxford  was 
resumed.     On  June  26th  the  entry  occurs — 

"  Threw  up  my  room  to  Mr.  Barnes." 

July  17th,  however,  found  him  back  at  Oxford,  but 
he  subsequently  went  home  to  Selborne ;  and  in 
September  to  pay  one  of  those  visits  at  Eingmer, 
near  Lewes,  to  his  aunt  Mrs.  Snooke,  the  owner 
of  Timothy,  *'  the  old  family  tortoise,"  which  became 
of  almost  annual  occurrence. 

Writing  to  him  here  on  September  7th  Mulso 
says — 


1745 


ME.   HOLT  DIES  41 


"I  thank  you  for  letting  me  know  of  your  Pleasures, 
it  is  always  an  addition  to  my  own.  I  never,  as  you  know, 
read  the  Odyssey." 

Keferring  to  an  invitation  to  Selborne,  he  con- 
tinues— 

"  I  look  for  an  Arcady  with  you,  and  I  expect  some  kind 
whispers  from  the  unseen  genius  of  your  woods.  I  have 
seen  no  pictures  since  I  was  at  Windsor  with  you.  .  .  . 
Collins  has  been  some  time  returned  from  Flanders,  in 
order  to  put  on  the  gown  as  I  hear,  and  get  a  chaplaincy 
in  a  regiment.  Don't  laugh.  Indeed  I  don't  on  these  occa- 
sions. This  will  be  the  second  acquaintance  of  mine  who 
becomes  the  thing  he  most  derides.  .  .  .  Heck  [his  sister] 
likes  your  hair.  She  confesses  so  much  already.  It  was 
a  very  neat  compliment  that  you  sent  her.  She  can't 
answer  it,  so  she  says  nothing." 

On  October  23rd,  1745,  Mulso  wrote  of  a  visit 
with  his  father  to  Northamptonshire — 

"  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  country.  I  am  sure  you  would 
like  it ;  as  we  walked  the  fields  we  sprang  large  coveys 
of  partridges  and  started  hares.  I  should  be  glad  of  a  large 
hunting  seat  there  for  your  service ;  I  call  my  father  to 
witness  how  often  I  repeated  '  if  White  was  here  how 
happy  he'd  be.'" 

Early  in  the  following  year,  174f,  an  event  of 
considerable  importance  to  the  White  family  oc- 
curred. Mr.  Thomas  Holt,  receiver  to  the  Duke 
of  Bedford,  with  whom  he  was  connected  through 
the  Howland  family,  died  at  Thorney  in  the  Isle  of 
Ely.     Mr.  Holt,  who  was  a  half-brother  of  Gilbert 


42  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1746 

White's  maternal  grandfather,  by  his  will  entailed 
property  in  Essex  upon  Thomas  White,  the  next 
eldest  brother  to  Gilbert  White,  subject  however 
to  certain  annuities,  which,  as  it  happened,  pre- 
cluded him  from  receiving  much  benefit  from  the 
estates  until,  many  years  afterwards,  in  1776,  the 
chief  annuitant  died.  A  small  amount  of  money, 
some  three  hundred  pounds  each,  was  inherited  by 
the  other  brothers. 

Gilbert  White  attended  the  sick-bed  at  Thorney, 
and,  being  one  of  the  executors  and  trustees,  re- 
mained for  some  time  to  wind  up  Mr.  Holt's  affairs 
at  Gore  Farm,  of  which  he  was  tenant  under  the 
Duke  of  Bedford.  In  the  intervals  of  his  business 
cares  he  seems  to  have  indulged  himself  in  a  practice 
which  remained  with  him  for  life — that  of  writing 
verses,  which  were  sent  to  his  friends.  And  at  this 
time  he  composed  the  first  version  of  his  little  poem, 
*  The  Invitation  to  Selborne,'  which  charmingly 
describes  the  beauties  of  that  place  and  neighbour- 
hood.^ 

Mulso  writes  to  him  on  February  9th,  174f, 
and  after  what  may  be  called  "  congratulatory  con- 
dolences "  upon  the  loss  of  a  relation,  continues — 

"  I  fancy  you  will  hardly  leave  the  parts  you  are  now  in, 
without  making  a  visit  to  Stamford,f  and  then  I  suppose 

*  cf.  Letter  from  Mulso  of  September,  1758,  in  which  he  mentions  having 
received  the  *  Invitation'  originally  "out  of  the  Fens  of  Cambridgeshire." 

t  Probably  to  a  family  named  Brown  there.  Mrs.  Barker's  eldest  daughter, 
b.  1752,  married  a  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  of  Stamford. 


1746 


GOES  TO  ESSEX  43 


will  cross  away  to  Hampshire,  where  your  brother  Benjamin 
told  me  you  was  expected.  ...  I  am  obliged  to  you  for 
putting  the  finishing  stroke  to  your  poetical  Performance 
of  which  you  gave  me  a  Hint  whilst  you  were  in  Town. 
I  can  easily  discover  which  were  breath'd  out  in  the  pure 
air  of  Selborne,  and  which  in  the  Fens ;  tho'  I  don't  mean 
that  they  are  tainted,  for  the  conclusion  is  as  charming 
as  the  beginning.  I  fancy  my  sister  Sung  herself  into  Six 
Lines,  when  you  was  in  town  last.  I  assure  you  without 
flattery  they  are  very  much  and  very  justly  admired.  .  .  . 
If  you  pass  through  London  on  your  return  don't  neglect 
King's  Square  Court  [his  father's  residence]  tho'  I  am  not 
there.  You  will  find  many  admirers,  who  lov'd  you  first 
for  my  sake  and  now  have  a  stronger  reason  to  do  so." 

Later  on,  Gilbert  White  went  to  examine  Mr. 
Holt's  Essex  estates,  and  wrote  from  one  of  the 
farms  near  Rochford  to  his  father  on  April  9th, 
1746  :— 

Honoured  Sir, — Finding  by  your  letter  to  me,  that 
Franky*  brought  to  London,  that  you  was  inclined  to  have 
me  go  to  this  part  of  the  Country,  I  set  out,  and  arrived 
here  yesterday. 

After  some  details  concerning  the  property  and 
tenants,  the  letter  ends  with  a  significant  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  of  Essex  roads  at  this  time — 

I  think  the  Hundreds  in  general  look  pretty  pleasant; 
only  the  fear  of  agues  makes  people  dislike  them.  The 
Koads  in  the  Vales  are  bad,  and  there  you  meet  with  a 
horse-track  that  has  a  sound  bottom,  which  is  very  con- 
venient for  Horses  that  know  how  to  go  in  it:   but  my 

*  His  brother  Francis. 


44  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1743 

horse  found  it  so  narrow  that  he  was  much  foiled,  and  has 

cut  himself   all  four.     I  hope  the  short  time  I  stay  here, 

I  shall  escape  the  ague. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  dutiful  son, 

Gil  White. 

On  April  16th,  1746,  he  writes  again  to  his  father 
from  London.     The  letter  concludes — 

I  did  to  the  best  of  my  power  survey  all  the  Estates 
round  Rochford,  and  took  my  remarks  down  in  my  pocket- 
book  on  the  spot,  and  will  send  you  a  copy  of  my  observa- 
tions from  Thorney.  My  Sister  sets  out  for  Ringmer  to-day 
behind  Daniel  Crips.     My  brothers*  are  both  pretty  well. 

Franky  has  got  a  cough. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  dutiful  son, 

G.  White. 

P.S. — I  received  your  Letter  of  the  15,  but  have  no 
time  to  answer  it  this  post.     I  burnt  the  first  page. 

The  elaborate  and  tabulated  observations  are 
extant ;  and  the  writer  of  the  present  memoir,  who 
knows  the  property  very  well,  is  able  to  testify  to 
the  great  care  and  accuracy  with  which  they  were 
compiled. 

On  April  23rd,  1746,  he  writes  again  to  his  father 
from  "  Gore  Farm,"  Thorney,  Isle  of  Ely — 

"  After  a  long  variety  of  journeys,  I  thank  God,  I  arrived 
safe  here  this  evening,  and  found  my  Brother f  very  well. 

•  Benjamin  and  Francis^  who  had  commenced  their  business  career  in 
London. 

+  Thomas,  who  writes  a  short  note  to  his  father  on  the  same  letter-sheet. 


1746  IN  LINCOLNSHIRE  45 

I  made  Harlow*  in  my  way  hither,  and  took  my  observa- 
tions in  my  pocket-book  as  usual ;  which  I  will  send  you  by 
Letter  when  I  have  more  time.  .  .  ." 

The  following  memorandum,  which  was  made 
during  his  residence  at  Thorney,  well  illustrates 
his  careful  and  methodical  habit  of  mind  : — 

"  To  sell  the  sheep  as  fast  as  possible.  As  many  oxen  as 
are  saleable.  Not  to  sell  the  Plate  by  auction  at  Thorney, 
but  to  reserve  it  to  be  disposed  of  at  London  by  weight. 
The  four  men-servants  not  to  be  discharged  'till  the  will 
is  proved,  because  they  are  witnesses.  To  take  great  care  of 
the  papers  in  the  'scrutore  in  the  best  Chamber,  especially 
Bonds,  Ledger,  &c.    Use  great  secresy  about  money  matters." 

On  May  28th,  1746,  John  Mulso  addressed  a 
letter  to  his  friend  at  Selborne,  thanking  him  for 
entertainment  there,  and  begging  him  to  write  "before 
and  during  your  excursions."  For  the  man,  who  has 
of  late  years  been  frequently  represented  as  a  stay- 
at-home  recluse,  was  off  again  in  the  following  month 
I  (June)  to  Spalding,  in  Lincolnshire,  where  he  ^'was 
visiting  for  a  week  together."  f  Probably  he  went 
there  from  Thorney,  since  in  a  letter  to  Marsham, 
written  in  1791,  he  states  positively  that  in  the  year 
1746  he  ''lived  for  six  months  at  Thorney,  in  the 
Isle  of  Ely,  to  settle  an  executorship  and  dispose  of 
live  stock." 

*  In  Essex,  near  which  town  another  manor  and  farm  of  Mr.  Holt's  were 
situated. 

t  Vide  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter  XXIII.  to  Pennant. 


46  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1746 

On  August  1st,  1746,  Mulso  writes  to  Selborne — 
"I  have  a  little  longer  deferred  writing  to  dear  Gil, 
suspecting  that  the  charms  of  Todnam*  would  occasion  my 
letters  lying  unopened  at  Selbourne  if  I  wrote  sooner,  and 
I  cannot  believe  you  passed  by  Tom  Mander  so  quiet  as  you 
told  me  you  would :  if  I  know  him  he  has  the  Art  of  engag- 
ing a  little  longer,  and  yet  a  little  longer  tarrying.  Lucre- 
tius's  *  suave  mari  magno, '  etc.,  was  not  the  reason  I  laughed 
so  heartily  at  your  stage-coach  sickness,  which  you  have 
now  recovered.  I  hope  you  will  forgive  me.  I  believe  it 
was  rather  the  circumstances  of  the  sickness  than  the  sick- 
ness itself,  that  diverted  me.  I  don't  think  there  is  a  better 
answer  to  the  Question  of  Original  Sin  than  a  groan ;  or  a 
better  satire  on  woman's  disputing  it,  than  your  cascading." 

This  infirmity  was  no  laughing  matter,  however, 
to  his  friend ;  since  his  sufferings  from  it  prevented 
him,  as  he  told  Pennant  (in  an  unpublished  letter), 
from  making  the  long  journey  to  Flintshire  on  a 
visit  to  Downing,  Pennant's  seat  there.  Perhaps 
this  was  the  reason  why  he  so  constantly  rode  every- 
where, the  names  "  hussar  parson "  and  "  a  centaur 
not  fabulous"  being  bestowed  on  him  by  Mulso. 

The  letter  continues — 

"  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Collins,  dated  Antwerp. 
He  gives  a  very  descriptive  journal  of  his  travels  through 
Holland  to  that  place,  which  he  is  in  raptures  about,  and 
promises  a  more  particular  account  of.  He  is  in  high  spirits, 
though  near  the  French.  He  was  just  setting  out  for  the 
Army,  which  he  says  are  in  a  poor  way.  ...  I  dare  not  tell 
you  how  much  we  think  ourselves  obliged  to  you  for  your 
company  in  town." 

*  Todenham,  near  Moreton-in-the-Marsh,  Gloucestershire,  where  lived  a 
college  friend,  Thomas  Mander,  who  became  a  Fellow  of  Oriel. 


1746 


M.A.    OKDAINED  DEACON  47 


August  9th,  1746,  found  him  again  up  at  Oxford, 
when  he  attends  the  races  in  September.  On  Oc- 
tober 7th  a  "liceat  for  declamation"  costs  65.,  and 
on  October  22nd  he  pays  "fees  at  taking  A.M. 
degree  3^   6^'  S'^" 

A  somewhat  higher  scale  of  fees  for  the  M.A. 
degree  is  now  in  vogue  at  Oxford,  but  no  sort  of 
examination.  At  this  date,  however,  it  was  not  so. 
John  Mulso,  writing  on  October  27th,  1746,  says — 

"I  wish  you  joy  of  having  passed  the  fiery  ordeal  of 
M.A.,  but  I  am  sorry  you  ended  so  furiously  as  to  burn 
your  works ;  why  was  not  Augustus  at  your  elbow  to  rescue 
those  unfortunate  compositions  ?  To  say  truth  I  should 
have  been  glad  to  have  seen  them,  for  tho'  I  might  not 
copy,  I  might  imitate,  and  I  want  a  model,  and  for  that 
want's  sake  I  defer  setting  about  anything  of  that  nature; 
j  tell  me  your  whole  Proceeding,  tell  me  your  Questions,  tell 
I   me  your  Theses,  tell  me  your  examination,  your  masters, 

your let   me   into    the   whole   Fund.      I    desire    you 

would  always  have  wet  brown  paper  about  you,  that  is, 
I  desire  you  would  not  mislay  or  carry  away,  or  lend  out, 
'  or  in  any  other  way  distrain  the  Scheme,  which  upon  your 
Promise  I  now  call  mine.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  it  here 
if  you  could  contrive  it." 

He  also  mentions  with  approval  a  translation  from 
Horace^  Od.  III.  26,  which  his  friend  had  sent  to 
him. 

On  Sunday,  April  27th,  1747,  Gilbert  White  re- 
ceived Deacon's  Orders  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral, 
Oxford,  from  Thomas  Seeker,  Bishop  of  Oxford.     He 


48  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1747 

at  once  became  curate  to  his  uncle  (by  marriage), 
the  Kev.  Charles  White,  Kector  of  Bradley  and 
Swarraton,  Hants,  with  duty  at  Swarraton.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  of  this  curacy — which,  how- 
ever, seeing  that  his  stipend  was  only  £20  a  year, 
probably  only  entailed  Sunday  duty — he  came  up 
to  Oriel  again  on  July  llth;  whence,  as  he  kept  a 
mare  at  this  time  at  livery,  he  seems  to  have  con- 
tinued his  weekly  attendances  at  Swarraton. 

During  the  summer  he  again  visited  his  college 
friend,  Tom  Mander,  at  Todenham,  in  Gloucestershire, 
where  Mulso  addresses  him  on  August  21st,  1747 — 

"I  presume  you  are  popping  and  snapping  so  that  a 
Farmer  can't  walk  his  own  fields  in  security  for  you.  Tom 
can  walk  farthest,  but  you  shoot  best ;  I  fancy  I  have  drawn 
your  characters,  tho'  I  may  add  Tom  drinks  cyder  longest, 
but  you  take  the  larger  glasses  at  first.  I  thank  you  for 
your  account  of  yourself  at  Chalgrave.  There  is  no  man 
understands  a  Retreat  I  see  better  than  yourself." 

Miller's  *  Gardening  Dictionary,'  apparently  the 
first  book  he  possessed  which  relates  to  his  favourite 
studies,  was  purchased  during  this  year. 

On  October  16th,  1747,  Gilbert  White  was  laid  up 
at  Oriel  with  an  attack  of  small-pox.  Some  of  the 
entries  found  in  his  pocket-book  under  the  heading, 
"Expenses  in  the  Small-pox,"  seem  to  imply  a 
different  treatment  of  the  disorder  from  that  now 
adopted,  and  are  worth  reproduction. 


1747 


HAS   SMALL-POX  49 


October  16th— 

Li. 

s. 

d. 

3  bottles  of  white  wine  . 

.     0 

6 

0 

Bottle  of  wine 

.     0 

2 

0 

Half  a  pound  of  Corinths 

.    0 

0 

3 

Paid  Jo  for  watching     . 

.     0 

1 

6 

Ounce  of  green  tea 

.     0 

1 

IJ 

2  pounds  of  sugar 

.     0 

1 

8 

Figs  and  Corinths 

.     0 

0 

7 

Pint  of  wine 

.     0 

1 

0 

Ounces  of  Bohea 

.     0 

0 

6 

Pound  of  Kushlights 

.     0 

0 

6 

Bohea  Tea 

.     0 

1 

0 

Dish  of  Tripe     . 

.     0 

0 

6 

Ounces  of  Green  Tea    , 

.     0 

1 

0 

Coffee-house  for  Balm  Tea     .     0     1     9" 

Judging  by  the  amount  of  the  fees  paid  to  two 
doctors,  together  £31  105.  Orf.,  and  from  the  fact 
that  a  nurse  was  sent  from  Hampshire,  the  attack 
must  have  been  a  rather  severe  one.  The  patient 
seems,  however,  to  have  quite  recovered  by  the 
end  of  December,  if  it  was  for  his  own  use  that 
he  then  purchased  skates  and  a  shooting  net. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  reason  Gilbert 
White  never  sat  for  his  portrait  was  that  he  was 
badly  marked  in  the  face  as  a  result  of  this  attack 
of  small-pox.  Whether  he  was  permanently  so 
marked  or  not,  it  is  now  impossible  to  say.  But  no 
existing  member  of  his  family  seems  to  have  heard 
that  he  was  disfigured.   The  remark  by  Mr.  Bell,^  that 

*  FideBeWs  edition  of  '  The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne,' 
vol.  i.  p.  Iviii. 

VOL.  I. — E 


50  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1743 

"he  never  would  sit  for  his  portrait,"  is  not  correct. 
The  present  writer  has  often  heard  his  father,  the 
late  Algernon  Holt- White,  say,  upon  the  authority 
of  his  own  father,  Thomas  Holt -White,  who  was 
Gilbert  White's  nephew  and  knew  him  very  well, 
that  the  naturalist  showed  no  disinclination  to  have 
his  portrait  painted  when  urged  to  this  course  by 
his  brother  Thomas,  but  that  he  did  not,  as  it 
happened,  ever  have  it  done. 

Writing  to  his  friend  Mr.  Churton  many  years 
after  this  time,  on  August  20th,  1783,  Gilbert  White 
mentions  a  copy  of  verses  as  appearing  in  '  The 
Gentleman's  Magazine'  for  June,  1783,  "written  by 
a  poor  dear  Oxford  friend  long  since  dead,  about 
35  years  ago,"  i.e.  in  1748,  soon  after  this  attack  of 
small-pox. 

From  these  verses,  which  are  here  appended,  it  will 
be  seen  that  there  is  what  was  perhaps  a  merely 
jocular  mention  of  the  "roughen'd  face,"  but  it 
hardly  follows  from  this  that  he  was  badly  disfigured 
in  later  life,  or  indeed  marked  at  all. 

"THE  METAMORPHOSIS 

"  Corycius  long  admired  (a  curious  swain  !) 
The  wealth  and  beauties  of  Pomona  s  reign ; 
The  vegetable  world  engrossed  his  heart. 
His  garden  lingering  nature  help'd  by  art ; 
Where  in  the  smoking  beds  high  heap'd  appear 
Sallads  and  mushrooms  thro'  the  various  year. 

But  of  each  species  sprung  from  seed  or  root. 
The  swelling  melon  was  his  favourite  fruit ; 


1748  EETUKNS   TO   SWAKKATON  61 

Other  productions  kindled  some  delight 
In  his  fond  soul,  but  here  he  doted  quite. 
When  others  wisely  to  the  grot  retreat, 
And  seek  a  friendly  shelter  from  the  heat, 
Anxious  and  stooping  o'er  his  treasure,  low 
Poring  he  kneels,  and  thinks  he  sees  it  grow. 

One  day  when  Phoebus  scorch'd  the  gaping  plain, 
Striving  to  rise  at  length  he  strove  in  vain, 
Fix'd  to  the  spot,  exchang'd  his  shape  and  name, 
A  melon  turned  and  what  he  view'd  became. 

Ovid  would  tell  you  how  his  roughen'd  face  * 
Retains  the  network  and  the  fretty  grace ; 
His  skin  and  bones  compose  the  tougher  rind ; 
His  flesh  compressed  retains  its  name  and  kind ; 
Shrunk  are  his  veins,  and  empty'd  of  their  blood, 
Which  in  the  centre  forms  a  plenteous  flood. 

The  morning  past  away ;  'twas  noon ;  'twas  night ; 
'Twas  noon  again ;  no  lord  return'd ;  their  fright 
The  servants  own'd ;  when  one  cry'd  out  *  I've  found 
'  The  secret  now,  he's  in  the  melon  ground,' 
And  straight  ran  thither,  then  he  call'd  amain, 
The  adjacent  hills  re-echoed  to  the  strain; 
But  as  he  look'd  about,  ripe  at  his  foot 
A  melon  lay,  just  waiting  to  be  cut : 
He  urg'd  the  fatal  knife : — when  burst  a  groan 
With  words  like  these,  'you've  stabbed  your  master,  John.' 

So  bleeding  twigs  the  Trojan  hero  tore, 
And  hollow  murmurs  shook  the  Thracian  shore."  f 

"  *  By  the  small-pox."  "t  Mn.  ill.  40." 

During  1748  the  Oxford  residence  continued  to 
the  end  of  April,  when  he  let  his  rooms  "for  a 
quarter  of  a  year,"  a  transaction  which  he  repeated 
in  July  for  another  quarter.  Then  he  quitted  resi- 
dence at  the  University  and  went  to  Hampshire, 
where  he  continued  his  duties  as  curate  of  Swarraton, 
near  Alresford.    He  seems  to  have  chiefly  divided  his 


52  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1749 

time  between  Bradley,  where  his  uncle,  who  held 
that  living,  resided,  and  Selborne.  At  this  time 
entries  respecting  his  gun  and  dogs  appear  in 
his  account-book,  and  in  May,  1749,  "a  pair  of 
hunting  boots"  was  purchased,  which,  judging  from 
the  date,  could  have  scarcely  been  intended  for 
riding  to  hounds.  Visits  were  paid  to  Midhurst  and 
Cowdray  House,  which  he  showed  to  his  youngest 
brother,  Harry,  at  this  time  a  boy  sixteen  years  of 
age.  In  June  a  visit  was  paid  to  John  Mulso  at 
Sunbury  Vicarage ;  and  to  Kingmer,  whence  he  re- 
turned in  the  middle  of  August.  A  little  later  on 
a  journey  "to  Kingston  with  Harry,"  who  was  at 
school  there,  was  made.  In  September,  Winchester 
and  Portsmouth  were  visited  with  Mulso. 

It  is  pleasant  to  notice  that  his  account-book  at 
this  time  contains  constant  entries  of  gifts  to  the 
poor.     One  of  the  entries  is  : — 

"Gave  Goody  Marshall  pair  of  shoes  for  nursing  me  in 
the  small-pox.*' 


CHAPTER  IV, 

On  March  11th,  1749,  Gilbert  White  was  ordained 
priest  in  the  Chapel  in  Spring  Gardens,  London,  by 
James  Beauclerk,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  acting  for  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester.  At  the  following  Easter, 
when,  as  usual,  he  went  to  attend  the  Oriel  College 
audit,  he  took  his  brother  Harry  to  enter  him 
there,  though  the  latter  did  not  commence  residence 
until  the  following  year.  At  this  time  a  purchase 
was  made  of  a  pony,  "  Mouse,"  which  was  destined 
to  carry  its  owner  for  many  years  about  the  lanes 
and  over  the  downs  of  Hampshire  and  Sussex. 

Though  Gilbert  White  could  be  liberal  to  his 
poorer  neighbours,  he  commenced  the  habit  of  living 
well  within  his  income  very  early  in  life.  The 
following  entry  occurs  on  October  27th,   1749  : — 

"  Purchased  then  with  £300  legacy  money  and  £50 
Saved  £333  12«  10^  at  104f  in  Bank  Annuities  at  4  per 
cent." 

This  careful  habit  of  saving,  when  he  could,  was 
retained  during  all  his  life. 

53 


54  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1749 

On  July  17th,  1749,  John  Mulso  writes  from  Sun- 
bury,  after  a  visit  from  his  friend  : — 

"...  You  made  my  Sundays  Sabbath  days  indeed  and 
all  the  week  Festival.  We  retain  several  of  your  expres- 
sions, and  are  pleased  to  fall  into  your  Manner.  You  steal 
our  songs  and  we  your  sayings :  in  short  we  are  never 
more  pleas'd  than  when  we  can  set  you  before  us.  .  .  .  you 
have  the  art  to  be  truly  companionable.  Miss  Hecky  has 
been  a  Rake  and  deserted  us  for  two  whole  days,  and  went 
to  the  Races  and  Assembly  and  danced  away  in  company 
with  Lady  Musgrave:  I  wish  you  was  here  to  hear  her 
description  of  Races :  the  Sophoclean  ''Qjucoi,  woe's  me !  was 
used  with  energy." 

The  future  "  Admirable  Mrs.  Chapone  "  on  a  race- 
course suggests  indeed  a  curious  picture  ! 

He  goes  on  to  describe  the  proposed  journey  of  a 
family  party  to  Oxford,  and  continues — 

"Heck  is  in  the  greatest  alarm,  and  screamed  out  on 
hearing  it  'but  where's  my  Busser?'*  In  short  she  is 
apprehensive  of  a  dearth  of  civilities,  because  you  are  not 
to  be  there ;  and  fears  she  shall  not  get  her  Degree,  because 
she  has  not  her  favourite  Batchelour  to  answer  under." 

The  "Heck"  here  mentioned  was  his  sister,  Hester 
Mulso  (b.  1727,  d.  1801). 

In  Jesse's  edition  of  'The  Natural  History  of 
Selborne't  the  statement  is  made  that  "Mr.  White 
in  his  earlier  days  was  much  attached  to  Miss  Mulso 
(afterwards  Mrs.  Chapone),"  and  Mr.  Bell|  has  ex- 

*  A  nickname  which  Gilbert  White  received  at  Oriel. 

t  Vide  "The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,"  ed.  Jesse,  1854,  p.  xi. 

t  Vide  op.  ciL  Bell's  edition,  vol.  i.  p.  xxxv. 


1749 


HESTEK  MULSO  55 


panded  this  statement  into  a  touching  little  romance, 
in  which  Gilbert  White  figures  as  a  blighted  being, 
who  never  married  because  of  the  enduring  effect  of 
his  early  disappointment.  But  all  this  rests  upon 
no  foundation  whatever  in  fact.  Mr.  Jesse,  who 
certainly  saw  some  of  Gilbert  White's  unpublished 
MSS.,  had  very  probably  also  been  shown  the  letters 
to  him  from  John  Mulso  (which,  indeed,  he  mentions 
in  the  next  paragraph),  and  had  noted  cursorily 
some  such  passages  as  the  one  above  quoted.  Any- 
one who  examines  the  whole  series  of  these  letters 
with  the  slightest  care,  however,  will  see  at  once 
that,  though  John  Mulso  and  his  family,  who  were 
really  very  fond  of  Gilbert  White,  would  have 
welcomed  the  union,  neither  the  gentleman  nor  the 
lady,  though  excellent  and  intimate  friends,  ever 
appear  to  have  manifested  the  least  hint  of  anything 
more  than  friendship  for  each  other.  *The  Post- 
humous Works  of  Mrs.  Chapone,  etc.,'^  contain  '*  An 
Account  of  her  Life  and  Character,  drawn  up  by 
one  of  the  Family."  Herein  there  is  no  mention  of 
Gilbert  White,  nor  even  the  slightest  allusion  to  him, 
though  her  liking  for  Mr.  Chapone  "  from  their  first 
introduction,"  and  their  three  years'  engagement 
previous  to  marriage  in  1760,  are  dwelt  upon.  Nor 
is  any  tradition  of  the  disappointed  affections  known 
among  the  family  of  the  naturalist,  who  had  but  one 
mistress — Selborne. 

♦  John  Mun*ay,  1807  (2nd  edition). 


66  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF  SELBOKNE  1749 

On  September  25th,  1749,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  I  very  heartily  thank  you  and  your  good  family  for  all 
their  favours  at  Selborne  and  Bradley,  and  I  am  very  sorry 
that  I  could  not  make  one  more  visit  at  the  last  place." 

Judging  from  the  address  on  Mulso' s  letters, 
Gilbert  White  was  at  this  time  living  between  his 
uncle's  house  at  Bradley  and  his  home  in  Selborne. 
There  are  now  frequent  references  to  purchases  for 
the  garden  at  "The  Wakes,"  and  on  October  13th, 
1749,  he  pays  Is,  to 

"  John  Breckhurst  for  planting  trees  on  Selborne  plaister," 

a  practice  in  which  he  often  indulged  in  later  days. 

On  October  25th,  1749,  Mulso  writes  describing 
a  visit  to  **  the  top  of  Cowper's  Hill."  He  con- 
tinues : — 

"We  had  just  time  to  get  to  Egham  to  dinner,  where 
Hunger  recommended  a  plain  meal,  but  we  compensated  that 
by  the  elegance  of  our  entertainment,  which  was  the  reading 
of  your  Letter,  and  which  I  had  hoarded  up  for  that  Pur- 
pose. I  shall  only  say  upon  our  expedition,  that  I  thought 
the  scenes  it  afiforded  us  well  worth  going  to  see,  even  after 
the  many  beautiful  ones  which  you  took  such  kind  pains  to 
show  me.  .  .  . 

"Are  you  sure  that  you  shall  not  fetch  home  Harry  at 
Xmas?  Cannot  you  rest  at  Sunbury  for  a  day  or  two? 
I  think  the  sight  of  you  would  give  me  spirits  for  a  month 
at  least.  If  you  time  your  visit  well,  perhaps  I  may  take  a 
trip  to  London  with  you ;  we  will  see  the  family ;  salute  the 
Bishop,  and  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  he  could  give  you  a 
Hampshire  living  of  two  hundred  a  year  in  return  for  the 


11749  LEAVES   SWARRATON   CURACY  57 

compliment.  Perhaps  we  may  steal  into  the  pit  and  take 
another  laugh  together,  unless  you  think  it  beneath  your 
dignity.  But  you  shall  rule;  and  indeed  this  is  a  compli- 
ment which  I  owe  to  you,  who  referred  everything  to  my 
arbitration,  and  submitted  everything  to  my  content  and 
])leasure  when  I  was  in  Hampshire.  .  .  .  Tell  me  about  the 
curacy  and  whether  you  have  taken  it." 

From  the  last  sentence  and  an  entry  in  his  account- 
book  of  the  receipt  of  a  year's  salary  (£20)  for 
serving  the  curacy  of  Swarraton  to  March  21st, 
174f,  it  would  seem  that  Gilbert  White  had  been 
without  regular  duty  for  some  months. 

The  bishop  mentioned  in  this  letter  was  Dr. 
Thomas,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  and  subsequently  of 
Salisbury  and  of  Winchester,  who  had  been  tutor  to 
the  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards  George  III.)  and  his 
brother  Prince  Edward,  who  died  young.  He  had 
married  Mulso's  aunt,  Susanna.  Though  he  never 
gave  Gilbert  White  a  living,  he  was,  as  will  be  seen 
later,  a  remarkably  benevolent  uncle  to  John  Mulso. 

On  January  24th,  174^^,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  I  thank  you  for  entrusting  me  with  Horace ;  I  have  long 
expected  his  coming,  as  I  overheard  several  hints  from  him 
the  last  time  I  saw  you.  .  .  .  Wherever  I  have  carried  him 
it  is  agreed  that  he  is  as  well  dressed,  and  presents  that  easy 
wit  and  humour,  which  he  exhibited  when  Mr.  Pope  brought 
him  and  introduced  him  to  the  town  some  years  ago.  The 
Bishop  of  Peterborough,  who  remembers  him  in  his  Roman 
dress,  and  indeed  before  he  could  speak  English,  thinks  it 
wonderful  that  he  should  be  so  well  reconciled  to  our 
language  and  manners.     He  is  perfectly  naturalized.     But 


I 


58  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1750 

to  leave  Personification  and  to  speak  of  your  Piece;  I  like 
it  very  much  and  so  does  everybody  to  whom  I  have  show'd 
it;  only  Miss  Hecky  likes  more  that  you  should  be  in- 
debted to  nobody  for  your  plan.  ...  I  am  glad  that  you 
have  such  an  inclination  to  Sunbury,  I  wish  the  word 
Prcebeo  was  more  applicable  to  me,  that  I  might  accommo- 
date you  in  the  amplest  manner.  You  may  well  call  the 
vicarage  a  Caravansary,  for  as  I  take  it  there  was  little 
more  than  bare  walls  in  them.  ...  I  call  Mouse  to  witness 
my  Eastern  beggary.  You  must  settle  your  own  time  and 
then  I  will  not  be  in  London,  but  I  will  attend  you  thither 
with  pleasure.  Miss  Hecky  will  be  glad  to  see  you,  and  so 
will  Jenny*  etc.  I  expect  to  see  your  brother  Musgravef 
soon  who  is  going  up  to  attend  his  sister  Betty's  marriage. 
The  day  is  not  fixed.  Dont  rail  at  my  laziness.  I  have 
in  some  of  your  letters  the  best  descriptions  of  Procrasti- 
nation, and  applied  to  yourself.  I  profess  it,  my  genius  is 
idle,  but  I  dont  glory  in  it  neither.  .  .  .  You  may  venture 
to  a  Play,  for  the  audience  had  like  to  have  torn  the  House 
down  the  other  night,  for  the  manager's  daring  to  revive  an 
indecent  Play  of  Otway's ;  and  calling  him  forth,  ordered  him 
never  to  affront  their  ears  with  such  loose  performances." 

On  April  11th,  1750,  John  Mulso  writes  again  : — 

"  You  are  now  I  suppose  to  be  found,  like  Cyrus,  ranging 
your  Trees,  and  nursing  your  Plants.  ...  I  wish  you  joy 
of  the  arrival  of  the  swallows  and  the  swifts  and  the 
nightingales.  I  hope  you  will  send  me  word  how  your 
nurseries  go  on,  and  the  true  state  of  Selbourne  Hanger, 
with  the  delightful  history  of  the  Temple  and  Weather- 
cock. ...  I  hope  you  are  writing  out  Heck's  sermon  J  for 
us,  for  the  Bishop  is  soon  going  down  to  Peterboro',  and 

•  Miss  Jane  Young,  to  whom  Mulso  was  engaged. 

t  Chardin  Musgrave,  Fellow,  subsequently  Provost,  of  Oriel. 

X  A  sermon  composed  by  Miss  Mulso  and  sent  to  G.  White. 


1750 


THE  ARBOUR  ON  THE  HILL  59 


He  wants  to  have  it.  The  Bishop  loves  you.  ...  I  hope 
the  spring  will  invite  out  a  little  of  your  Poetry,  you  know 
what  Heck  said,  that  she  would  not  have  you  always  trans- 
late and  imitate,  but  give  your  own  Invention  scope,  and 
I  hope  you  observe  what  she  says." 

A  little  later,  in  May,  speaking  of  an  excursion 
of  his  sister  s  into  Kent,  the  same  correspondent 
mentions  that  the  Kentish  road  affords  fine  scenery, 
"  as  I  believe  you  have  experienced,"  and  remarks 
that  his  sister  said  her  "  second  day  was  according 
to  Mr.  White's  taste  a  cool,  brown  day ;  but  as  she 
is  as  much  given  to  Agues  as  you  are  to  Fevers,  she 
invok'd  the  blessed  sun  to  come  and  warm  her,  with 
as  much  earnestness  as  you  creep  into  the  shades,  or 
shelter  in  the  '  nidus  Acherontiae,'  by  which  name  I 
think  you  have  christened  your  arbour  on  the  Hill." 

Possessors  of  either  of  the  quarto  editions  of  Gilbert 
White's  book  will  see  in  the  large  north-east  view  of 
Selborne  this  "  arbour,"  or  one  which  subsequently 
superseded  it,  called  the  "  Hermitage,"  near  the 
zigzag  path  (not  yet  made  however)  up  the  Hanger. 
The  other  little  summer-house  shown  in  the  large 
north-east  view  of  Selborne,  together  with  the  slop- 
ing path,  or  "  Bostal,"  near  which  it  stood,  was  not 
constructed  for  many  years  after  the  time  now 
treated  of  The  latter  was  called  by  Gilbert  White 
*'the  new  Hermitage.'"^ 

*  These  two  little  buildings  have  of  course  long  perished,  but  the  plat- 
forms dug  out  of  the  chalk  hill,  on  which  they  stood,  are  plainly  to  be  seen. 
From  the  bostal,  a  little  below  where  the  later  Hermitage  stood,  a  small,  but 
still  perfectly-defined  zigzag  path  leads  down  to  a  wicket-gate  opening  into 
the  little  park  behind  "The  Wakes." 


60  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1750 

The  construction  of  this  arbour  may  seem  a  very 
trivial  matter,  but  it  was  the  beginning  of  many 
subsequent  embellishments  and  improvements,  which 
most  certainly  tended  in  no  small  degree  to  keep 
their  contriver  in  his  native  place. 

During  the  autumn  of  the  year  1750  Gilbert 
White  visited  his  relation,  Francis  White,  d.d.,  Eector 
of  Christian  Malford,  in  Wiltshire,  and  went  on  to 
stay  at  East  AUington,  near  Kingsbridge  in  Devon- 
shire, with  an  Oriel  contemporary,  the  Rev.  Nathan 
Wells,  who  had  married  and  settled  there  as  Eector. 
In  this  neighbourhood  the  Selborne  visitor  spent 
some  weeks.  The  district,  known  as  the  South 
Hams — the  garden  of  Devonshire — lying  between 
the  Rivers  Tamar  and  Teign,  and  bounded  by 
Dartmoor  and  the  Channel,  is  perhaps  the  most 
fertile  and  charming  in  the  beautiful  county  of 
Devon ;  a  land  of  shady  dells  watered  by  clear 
streams  and  traversed  by  labyrinthine  lanes,  from 
which  the  traveller  can  ascend  to  the  misty  solitudes 
of  Dartmoor.  No  doubt  it  was  thoroughly  enjoyed 
by  the  naturalist,  than  whom,  probably,  few  young 
men  of  his  age  and  position  enjoyed  greater  oppor- 
tunities for  travelling  about  their  native  country. 

Addressing  him  "In  the  Depths  of  Devon," 
Mulso  writes,  on  August  30th,   1750: — 

"  You  live  a  scrambling,  rantipole  hfe,  and  have  a  great 
variety  of  objects  to  be  painted  upon  paper,  (at  which  Land- 
scape painting  I  think  you  a  great  and  masterly  hand)  and 
sent  to  your  sedentary  friends.     We  receive  them  and  think 


1750 


VISITS   DEVONSHIRE  61 


we  are  travelling  with  you  for  five  minutes,  and  then  look 
up  and  find  ourselves  in  the  same  tedious  scene." 

After  describing  the  country  near  Rickmansworth, 
Mulso  continues : — 

"This  unevenness,  however,  gives  a  great  Beauty  to  the 
whole,  and  makes  it  much  in  your  taste;  indeed  I  never 
see  a  spot  which  lies  much  out  of  the  level  but  I  think 
of  you,  and  say,  'now  this  would  please  White.'  ...  I 
hope  you  will  write  a  poem  and  call  it  the  Progress 
describing  your  own  rambles.  It  would  make  a  fine  Piece 
and  might  tempt  gentlemen  to  examine  their  own  country 
before  they  went  abroad  and  brought  home  a  genteel 
disgust  at  the  thoughts  of  England.  .  .  .  My  father  sets 
out  in  a  day  or  two  to  fetch  home  that  great  stranger 
Miss  Hecky;  she  has  a  design  upon  the  poor  Vicar,  and 
talks  of  careering  about  with  'Whitzftws,'  who  she  says 
heightens  and  improves  all  parties  ;  whether  there  is  any 
particular  Hint  of  improvement  by  the  termination  she  is 
pleased  to  give  to  your  name,  you  best  know :  as  for  me  I 
never  see  those  things,  because  I  do  as  I  would  be  done  by ; 
so  you  best  know  the  meaning  of  your  new  name,  and 
whether  it  is  a  fond  abbreviation  of  your  Oxford  title  of 
Busser.  I  must  see  you  after  your  journies ;  why  you  are 
just  at  home  at  Sunbury !  Miss  Hecky  must  hear  all  your 
travels  and  you  must  lead  her  quick  imagination  through  your 
Seiva  weXwpa,  as  Homer  does,  to  your  irepLKaWeag  dypou^." 

In  October  following  the  desired  description  was 
evidently  forwarded,  for  the  same  correspondent 
writes  on  the  6tli  of  that  month  : — 

"I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  account  of  your 
travels,  which  was  very  exact,  and  very  entertaining.  If 
you  would  but  continue  your  tours,  and  write  to  me  from 


62  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1751 

them,  I  should  have  material  for  a  very  useful  and  agree- 
able Pockett  volume.  ...  I  follow  you  in  imagination,  and 
indeed,  according  to  your  description  of  the  South-hams, 
it  is  the  only  way  in  which  I  can  follow  you  thither." 

In  November,  Harry  White,  who  was  going  into 
residence  at  Oriel,  was  accompanied  to  Oxford  by 
his  eldest  brother,  who  spent  the  term  there.  At 
this  time  he  bought  *'  a  Pontipool  snuff-box  for  aunt 
White,"  and  "14  yards  of  stuff  for  sister  Becky." 
A  loss  occurred,  since  his  second,  or  "portmanteau" 
horse,  as  he  terms  it,  died  on  the  return  journey 
to  Selborne.  Oxford  was,  however,  losing  its  charm 
for  the  Fellow  of  Oriel.  Writing  to  him  there  on 
December  13th,  1750,  his  friend  Mulso  observes: — 

"I  love  the  thoughts  of  Oxford,  yet  I  agree  with  you 
that  it  has  not  the  same  charms  for  me  that  it  had.  .  .  . 
I  suppose  Harry  is  heir  to  your  old  go'iit  for  a  college  life." 

After  Christmas  the  quiet  life  at  Selborne  seems 
to  have  been  resumed. 

In  January,  1751,  the  family  circle  at  "The 
Wakes "  lost  another  member ;  since  Miss  Anne 
White  was  married  to  a  gentleman  whom  she  had 
probably  met  at  her  uncle,  Mr.  Isaac's,  rectory  at 
Whitwell,  Mr.  Thomas  Barker,  of  Lyndon  Hall, 
Kutland ;  a  member  of  a  family  long  settled  in  that 
county,  of  which  Sir  Abel  Barker,  Bart.,  of  Hamble- 
ton,  was  the  head. 

This  year  (1751)  is  remarkable  for  the  inception 
of  a  kind  of  diary,  consisting  chiefly  of  daily  events 
in  the  garden,  which  was  continued  year  by  year 


1761       BEGINS   'THE   GAKDEN  KALENDAR'  63 

for  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  Gilbert  White's  lifetime. 
Possibly  a  remarkable  man,  Dr.  Steven  Hales,  cele- 
brated as  a  writer  of  works  on  natural  philosophy, 
may  have  suggested  the  keeping  of  this  journal. 
In  the  correspondence  which  arose  after  the  pub- 
lication of  *  The  History  of  Selborne '  between  its 
author  and  Eobert  Marsham,  the  well-known  Norfolk 
naturalist,  Gilbert  White  mentions  his  father's  and 
his  own  friendship  with  Dr.  Hales,  who  was  his 
neighbour,  he  says,  for  part  of  the  year,  residing 
at  his  rectory  of  Faringdon,  and  of  whom  he  gives 
some  account.  Marsham,  in  his  first  letter,  mentions 
that  he  had  kept  a  journal  for  above  fifty  years,  and 
tliat  it  was  undertaken  "by  the  advice  of  my  most 
estimable  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Hales."  Very  possibly, 
though  Dr.  Hales'  talents  were  chiefly  directed  to 
branches  of  science  other  than  the  observation  of 
nature  out  of  doors,  Gilbert  White's  mind  may 
have  been  considerably  influenced  by  his  friend's 
philosophical  pursuits,  of  which  he  gives  some  ac- 
count in  his  letter  to  Marsham  of  February  25th, 
1791.  Dr.  Hales  held  the  Rectory  of  Faringdon 
from  1722  to  his  death,  in  1761. 
This  journal,  which  is  headed  thus — 

'The  Garden  Kalendar  for  the  Year  1751/ 
was  commenced  and  for  many  years  written  on  leaves 
of  quarto  letter-paper.     It  was  begun  as  an  almost 
daily  chronicle  of  the  weather,  the  sowing  of  the 
usual  garden  seeds,  of  work  in  the  garden,  and  of 


64  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1751 

the  planting  of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  alterations 
about  the  premises  at  Selborne,  which,  during  his 
whole  life,  its  author  delighted  to  improve  and  em- 
bellish. Later  there  are  notices  of  experiments  and 
natural  history  observations,  of  visits  to  friends, 
and  occasionally  of  family  events.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  very  few  entries  by  his  father  and 
brothers  Thomas  and  John,  and  at  a  later  date  by 
his  old  servant  Thomas  Hoar,  the  journal  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  Gilbert  White. 

Those  who  possess  Mr.  Bell's  edition  of  '  The 
Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne'  will 
find  in  vol.  ii.  pp.  348-59  a  reproduction  of  part 
of  the  Garden  Kalendar  for  the  year  1759."^ 

On  June  6th,  1751,  Mulso  writes  to  Oxford  from 
"  London,  in  Miss  Hecky's  dressing-room.  She  is 
reading  *  Clarissa,'  on  the  other  hand  lies  your  Invi- 
tation'' In  his  usual  manner  he  proceeds,  as  candid 
friends  will,  to  criticise ;  and  his  remarks  show  that 
if  his  subject  was  the  poem  known  as  the  '  Invitation 
to  Selborne,'  it  must  have  been  much  altered  at  a 
later  date.  Very  probably  it  may  have  been,  since 
these  verses  were  sent  later  on  to  other  friends — 
among  others,  to  Miss  Catharine  Battle  some  years 
afterwards.!     Whatever  it  was,  it  pleased  his  friend, 

*  Much  the  same  kind  of  journal  was  kept  by  Henry  White  at  Fyfield 
Rectory,  amusing  extracts  from  which  have  been  recently  printed  in  *  Notes 
on  the  Parishes  of  Fyfield  (etc.),  by  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Clutterbuck,  f.s.a., 
edited  by  E.  D.  Webb,  f.s.a.'     Bennett  Brothers,  Salisbury,  1898. 

t  Her  copy  contains  thirty  more  lines  than  are  given  in  the  version  first 
printed  in  the  3rd  edition  of  the  *  Selborne,'  1813,  and  is  otherwise  slightly 
different. 


751  LETTER  FROM  HESTER  MULSO  65 

.vlio  concludes  his  criticism  with  some  very  laudatory 
remarks,  adding,  *' It  is  indeed  agreed  by  all,  from 
lIic  Bishop  to  the  Vicar,  to  be  a  very  good  Piece,'' 
He  proceeds : — 

"  I  find  by  your  Hesitation  that  I  must  love  one  Proctor, 
though  to  say  Truth,  as  you  know,  I  never  feared  one.  I 
assure  you  I  think  of  the  office  with  great  respect,  and  as 
I  make  no  Doubt  that  you  will  execute  it  with  great 
applause,  I  think  it  may  be  a  serviceable  Honour  to  you. 
I  fiing  in  my  vote  to  your  accepting  it,  tho'  I  had  rather 
have  you  at  Sunbury  to  set  me  again  on  Horseback,  which 
I  took  leave  of  when  I  took  leave  of  you." 

Miss  Hester  Mulso  writes  at  this  time  on  a  sheet 
of  her  brother's  letter  as  follows  : — 

"  I  am  so  much  obliged  both  to  the  Poet  and  the  Friend 
in  Mr.  White's  gallant  and  elegant  Invitation  that  I  cannot 
help  telling  him  how  much  I  am  mortified  that  I  cannot 
thank  him  in  Person  for  his  admirable  Poem.  Your  descrip- 
tion of  Selborne  has  left  nothing  to  'the  craving  Imagination 
of  Miss  Hecky,'  and  it  was  kindly  done  to  send  me  so  lively 
a  Picture,  as  I  fear  I  am  not  to  see  the  Original.  It  is  no 
great  compliment  to  say  that  I  wish  to  accept  your  Invita- 
tion, as  I  write  from  this  suffocating  Town,  where  I  am 
killed  with  Heat,  and  have  no  Voice  or  Strength.  Here, 
however,  I  am  likely  to  remain  (if  I  can  exist)  the  greatest 
part  of  the  summer,  with  only  the  refreshing  excursion  of  a 
day  or  two  now  and  then  to  Mr.  Richardson's  *  at  Northend, 
to  keep  me  alive.  I  shall  gratify  his  Vanity  and  my  own 
by  showing  him  your  Verses;  and  I  think  yours,  if  you 
have  any,  must  taste  the  praises  of  a  Richardson.  Pray 
give  my  thanks  and  compliments  to  your  father  and  sister 

*  The  novelist. 
VOL.  I. — P 

t 


66  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1751 

for  their  part  of  the  Invitation.     I  hope  your  father  has  not 

seen  your  more  than  Poetical  Compliments,  for  if  he  has,  he 

must  not  see  me  unless  he  has  a  turn  for  Poetry,  and  knowe 

that  a  Poet  must  give  the  Perfection  he  does   not   find. 

When  you  next  drink  Tea  in  *  the  Pensile  nest-like  Bower ^ 

pity 

Your  obliged  humble  servant, 

Yes  Papa!"* 

In  June,  Gilbert  White  went,  after  his  brief  visit  1 
to  Oxford,  to  Chipping  Norton  ;  and  on  July  Istj 
set  out  on  "a  journey  to  Oxford  and  round  the 
N.W.  of  England  to  Lyndon  and  Stamford,"  return- 
ing on  August  24th.  In  September,  with  Tom  Mulso 
and  his  own  brothers  John  and  Harry,  he  made 
a  little  excursion  to  Portsmouth,  and  in  October 
paid  a  short  visit  to  Oxford,  where  he  bought  "  of 
Mr.  De  Chair  of  Oriel  a  genteel  bay  mare  coming 
6  years  old  called  Flora  about  14  hands  and  a  hall 
high,"  which  he  notes  he  sold  for  the  same  money. 

Writing  on  July  25th,  1751,  to  his  friend  at  Lyn- 
don, Mulso  says : — 

"  You  are  going  to  see  new  Places  and  make  more  observa- 
tions. I  expect  you  would  make  them  to  me.  Consider, 
I  have  a  pretty  collection  of  your  travels  about  England, 
and  you  must  carry  the  set  through.  I  may  make  it  a 
useful  work  in  time,  and  enable  young  men  to  travel  with 
Taste  and  improve  at  home." 

On  October  25th,  1751,  Gilbert  White  became 
Curate-in-charge  of  Selborne  for  Dr.  Bristow,  who  was 

*  A  nickname  in  her  family. 


ITillifflS^^iinillilllPiF^Iir''^"  ^> 


1752  SELBOKNE  CUEACY— PROCTOR  67 

absent  from  ill-health ;  and  resided  at  the  vicarage, 
where  he  occasionally  entertained  friends. 
On  January  29th,  1752,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"I  hear  you  are  snug  at  the  vicarage,  where  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  you  are  preparing  something  for  the  world. 
Sermons  or  satire  must  come  from  him  who  has  left  the 
world.  ...  I  long  to  hear  some  of  your  sermons  in  Sunbury 
Church,  and  am  glad  you  are  in  strong  exercise,  because 
strengthening  of  the  chest  is  I  believe  strengthening  of  the 
lungs.  .  .  .  You  are  happy  in  both  the  turn  and  power  to 
labour,  to  journey,  to  harden :  and  if  one  was  to  address  you 
one  should  begin  like  an  epitaph  '  siste  viator ' !  " 

In  February,  1752,  a  short  visit  was  made  to 
Oxford,  no  doubt  on  the  business  of  the  office  of 
Proctor  to  the  University,  which  had  come  to  Oriel 
for  this  turn,  and  was  at  Gilbert  White's  option. 
Though  by  no  means  without  precedent,  it  was 
perhaps  a  little  unusual  for  a  non-resident  to  serve 
this  office.  However,  his  claim  was  recognised.  He 
resigned  his  Selborne  curacy  in  March,  and  on  April 
8th,  1752,  became  Junior  Proctor. 

Mulso,  who  had  previously  urged  acceptance  of 
the  office,  writes  on  March  28th,   1752  : — 

"  I  think  you  have  paid  the  University  a  great  Compli- 
ment in  accepting  of  the  Sleeves,  for  as  I  take  your  genius, 
you  are  rather  Atticus  than  TuUy.  '  Otium  cum  Dignitate  * 
is  your  motto  and  turn.  And  the  green  Retreats  (for  they 
begin  now|to  be  the  green  Retreats)  of  Selbourne  afford  more 
serious  pleasure  to  your  contemplative  mind,  than  the 
'  frequentis  plausus]  theatri '  can  to  your  Ambition.     I  have 


68  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF  SELBOKNE  1752 

a  longing  desire  to  see  you  in  your  new  station,  but  then  I 
want  to  bring  in  each  hand  a  girl.*  .  .  .  How  prettily  would 
they  adjust  your  Sleeve  and  give  a  more  rakish  air  than 
suits  the  Academic  Form  !  How  would  they  admire  the  Tuft, 
and  how  would  they  fancy  the  Flap !  .  .  .  I  have  had  a  great 
cold.  Heck  and  Missy  resolved  to  take  a  post-chaise  and 
come  and  nurse  me  at  Sunbury.  How  did  they  wish  that 
Mr.  Proctor  White  was  here  with  them  !  The  weather  was 
tempestuous,  but  we  read  Pope,  etc.,  longing  for  your 
indicative  finger  to  point  out  the  beauties,  though  it  affronts 
our  judgment  by  preventing  it.  ..." 

He  goes  on  to  mention  another  ''  scheme  of 
pleasure"  which  might  prevent  the  Oxford  visit. 

"And  perhaps  of  all  years  this  is  that  in  which  you  might 
be  least  glad  of  our  company.  And  I  must  own  it  would 
have  an  odd  sound,  when  the  Provost  sends  to  know  what 
noise  that  is  in  his  college  at  One  in  the  morning,  to  have 
him  answered,  'Sir,  it  is  the  Proctor  with  two  girls  and 
the  mad  Parson  of  Sunbury.'  So  see  you  to  it.  ...  I  reckon 
you  often  turn  your  eyes  southward,  and  pine  after  the 
romantic  vicarage  with  the  'pensile  nest-like  bowers'  of 
Selbourne." 

Probably  upon  the  authority  of  Edmund  White 
(Vicar  of  Newton  Valence),  Professor  Bellf  relates 
the  following  amusing  occurrence  during  the  Proctor- 
ship. It  appears  that,  as  the  Proctor  was  going  his 
nightly  round,  he  found  a  dissipated  undergraduate 
lying  in  a  drunken  sleep  at  the  back  of  the  Schools. 
Next   morning   the    culprit   was   dismissed    with    a 

*  Evideutly  his  fiancee,  Miss  Young,  and  his  sister, 
t  Vide  Bell's  edition,  vol.  i.  pp.  xxxii.,  xxxiii. 


1752  PROCTOR  AT  OXFORD  69 

lecture  because  he  had  retained  sufficient  sense  of 
decency  to  fold  up  tidily  his  outer  garments !  True 
or  not,  the  story  is  at  least  consistent  with  the 
extreme  sense  of  order  and  neatness,  which  in  an 
eminent  degree  characterised  the  Junior  Proctor.  It 
is  also  said,  but  the  writer  has  been  quite  unable  to 
trace  the  story  to  any  authority,  that  the  future 
historian  of  the  Koman  Empire,  Gibbon,  who  was 
certainly  in  residence  as  an  undergraduate  at  this 
time  (since  he  matriculated  at  Magdalen  College  on 
April  3rd,  1752,  and  remained  in  residence  at  Ox- 
ford for  fourteen  months),  was  upon  one  occasion 
proctorised  by  the  future  historian  of  Selborne. 

Residence  at  Oxford  during  the  year  1752,  though 
it  necessarily  caused  some  interruption  to  the 
regularity  of  the  entries  in  the  Garden  Kalendar, 
was  far  from  putting  an  end  to  them  altogether. 
The  Garden  Kalendar  for  that  year,  like  that  for 
the  preceding  year,  contains  frequent  entries  of  the 
planting  of  trees  and  shrubs  in  the  garden  and 
grounds  of  the  Selborne  home. 

The  account-book  kept  by  Gilbert  White  recording 
the  *'  Expence  preparatory  to  and  during  my  year  of 
Proctorship  in  the  University  of  Oxon.,  1752,"  has 
been  published  in  its  entirety  by  Professor  Bell,"^ 
with  the  true  comment  that  it  exhibits  "in  its  sim- 
plicity  that   combination   of  genial    kindliness   and 


*  Vide   Bell's    edition    of    '  The    Natural    History  and  Antiquities   of 
Selborne,'  vol.  ii.  pp.  316-346. 


70  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1752 

generous  hospitality,  with  habitual  prudence,  punc- 
tilious formality,  and  methodical  habits  which  was 
so  characteristic  of  his  after  life."  To  Mr.  Bell's 
book  the  reader  who  desires  to  look  into  some 
phases  of  ordinary  college  life  at  this  period  may  be 
referred.  Here  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  Mr. 
Proctor  seems  to  have  fully  entered  into  the  social 
life  of  the  University,  going  to  concerts  on  "choral 
nights,"  entertaining  his  friends  with  ''A  bowl  of 
rum  Punch  from  Horsman's,"  occasionally  visiting 
the  "Coffee  House,"  and  playing  cards  in  the 
common  room,  while  entries  for  cleaning  his  gun 
and  the  purchase  ''from  Woodstock  turnpike"  of  "a 
Spaniel  of  the  Blenheim  breed,"  show  that  he  still 
continued  to  shoot. 

Nor  were  his  friends  outside  Oxford  forgotten. 
His  brother  Thomas,  always  interested  in  botany, 
came  to  see  "the  Physic  Garden";  Mr.^  and  Mrs. 
Whiston ;  his  cousin,  Baptist  Isaac ;  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Woods ;  and  uncle,  Mr.  Snooke  (of  Ringmer) ;  and 
several  of  the  Mulso  family,  to  entertain  whom 
he  returned  to  Oxford  in  August  for  a  short  time. 
Nor  were  the  "poor  of  Selborne"  forgotten  by  his 
charity. 

During  this  time  he  served  the  office  of  Dean  of 
his  college,  the  most  important  post  after  the 
Provostship. 

On  December  21st,  1752,  Mulso  writes: — 

*  Doubtless  the  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of  Whiston  and  White. 


1753 


THE  ZIGZAG  AT  SELBORNE  71 


"You  have  now  passed  through  a  good  deal  of  your 
Oxford  confinement,  yet  much  remains;  what  a  pleasure 
will  you  feel  when  this  honourable  clog  is  taken  off  and 
you  at  liberty  to  range  the  country  as  you  were  wont!" 

In  January,  1753,  when  Gilbert  White  was  at 
home  for  the  Christmas  vacation,  his  brother  John, 
who  had  some  mechanical  talent,  was  undertaking, 
with  some  pecuniary  assistance  from  other  members 
of  the  family,  a  work  which  must  be  very  familiar  to 
all  who  know  Selborne — the  construction  of  the  well- 
known  zigzag  path  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of  the 
Hanger.  This  work  had  been  apparently  commenced 
in  the  preceding  autumn,  since  Gilbert  White's 
account-book  contains  the  entry — 

1752.  "  Sep*  29  Gave  towards  my  B^     Zi    s      d 
John's  Ziczac  up  Arbour  Hill    .     00.  01.  00." 

and  in  the  following  October  there  is  mention  of  a 
second  subscription. 

John  Mulso,  writing  on  January  27th,  1753, 
says  : — 

"I  have  great  ideas,  but  I  suppose  not  adequate,  of  your 
famous  Zigzag,  but  I  intend  not  to  strain  my  fancy;  that 
being  the  farther  distant  from  the  real  greatness  of  the 
work,  I  may  enjoy  the  Surprise  the  more,  but  why  do  I  say 
enjoy?  I  do  not  even  foresee  a  visit  to  Selbourne.  I  fancy  I 
shall  like  the  alteration  of  your  Hill  better  than  the  altera- 
tion of  your  verse,  for  unless  by  the  difficulty  of  getting 
through  the  one,  you  would  signify  the  labour  of  climbing  up 
the  other,  (which  is  wrong  to  the  very  design)  I  do  not  think 
the  crassitude  and  impediments  of    the  line  compensated 


72  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1753 

even  by  the  descriptiveness  of  it.  .  .  .  Our  girls  are  clear 
that  the  affair  between  you  and  one  Jenny  is  quite  serious. 
Missy  is  very  fond  of  the  thought,  being  much  taken  with 
the  lady ;  but  you  was  so  grave  with  me  in  the  post-chaise 
that  I  dare  not  add  to  their  opinion  anything  but  my 
applause  of  the  lady.  However  that  may  be,  I  daresay  that 
she  is  very  instrumental  in  softening  the  Eigour  of  your 
Oxford  confinement,  and  often  prevents  your  forgetting 
family  life.  .  .  .  Miss  Heck  has  got  a  new  cantata  for  you, 
and  if  you  come  before  her  pipe  is  quite  stopped  you  may 
command  it." 

Who  the  lady  referred  to  was  does  not  certainly 
appear,  but  his  friend  had  rallied  Gilbert  White 
upon  a  certain  "Jenny"  in  Oxford  some  years 
previously.  Very  probably  the  lady  in  question  was 
"  Jenny  Croke,"  with  whom  Gilbert  White  journeyed 
"from  Selborne  to  Oxon.  in  a  post-chaise,"  and  sub- 
sequently presented  with  "a  round  China-turene, 
being  prevented  paying  for  y®  post-chaise.""^  From 
other  entries  in  his  accounts  it  seems  that  Mrs. 
Croke,  Jenny's  mother,  kept  a  haberdasher's  shop  at 
Oxford,  and  sometimes  collected  the  rents  from 
Grandmother  White's  tenants  at  Oxford.  The  fre- 
quent occurrence  of  a  present  to  "Mrs.  Croke's  man" 
shows  that  Gilbert  White  often  visited  at  her  house. 

At  the  top  of  the  zigzag  path  may  still  be  seen 
a  rough-hewn,  rudely  pointed  stone  of  moderate  size, 
which  was  placed  in  position  by  the  brothers  White 
at  a  somewhat  later  date.     It  is  a  little  curious  that, 

•  Vide  Bell's  edition,  'Gilbert  White's  Account-book,'  vol.  ii.  p.  323. 


THE  "obp:lisk"  at  the  top  of  the  zigzag  path  at  selborne 


[To  face  p.  72,  Vol. 


1753  OBELISK  AT  SELBORNE  73 

though  the  Naturalist  is  by  no  means  forgotten  in 
his  native  village,  all  memory  of  his  connection  with 
the  Zigzag  and  this  stone,  which  is  now  termed  the 
''wishing -stone,"  and  gravely  conjectured  to  be  of 
Druidic  origin,  is  now  completely  lost.  This,  how- 
ever, is  certainly  one  of  the  stones  which  he  dig- 
nified by  the  name  of  ''obelisk."  His  account- 
book  for  1756  contains  the  entry — 

"Feb.  7.  —  Gave  Lasham  for  opening  a  vista  for  an 
obelisk."* 

And  later,  in  1758,  the  entry  occurs — 

"  Oct.  14. — Bringing  rock  to  Zigzag  and  making  area." 
As  the  rock,  or  "obelisk,"  is  a  piece  of  sandstone, 
it  must  have  been  brought  from  the  forest  side  of 
Selborne,  where  there  is  plenty  of  it.  These  works, 
together  with  the  Hermitage,  towards  which  5s. 
was  subscribed  in  April,  1758,  no  doubt  afforded 
great  pleasure  at  the  time  to  the  brothers ;  and 
however  unimportant  in  themselves,  likely  enough 
really  added  to  the  strong  attachment  they  all 
formed  to  Selborne. 

Mulso,  writing  to  his  friend  in  March,  1753,  after 
congratulating  him  upon  his  prospect  of  recovering 
his  liberty,  continues — 

"  I  am  glad  you  name  May  for  the  time  of  your  enlarge- 
ment, because  by  that  time  the  Prince  will  be  at  Kew,  and 

*  The  particular  "obelisk"  referred  to  in  this  entry  was  probably  placed 
in  the  field  at  the  bottom  of  the  Hanger,  opposite  "The  Wakes,"  whence 
it  could  be  viewed  through  the  "Vista."  A  stone  of  some  size,  which 
probably  formed  part  of  it,  still  stands  in  this  position. 


74  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1753 

you  and  I  will  go  over  to  dine  with  my  uncle  through  some 
of  the  most  delightful  riding  in  England.  ...  Sir  Philip 
[Musgrave  of  Eden  Hall]  has  carried  Chardin  [Musgrave] 
to  wait  upon  my  uncle,  but  I  do  not  apprehend  that  he  has 
taken  any  great  fancy  to  him,  for  your  story  has  given  him 
a  very  great  dislike  to  Him  " — 

a  significant  mention  of  Chardin  Musgrave,  who 
was  shortly  afterwards  to  become  Gilbert  White's 
successful  rival  in  the  candidature  for  the  Provost- 
ship  of  Oriel. 

Shortly  before  this  time  (in  February)  Benjamin 
White  married  Miss  Ann  Yalden,  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Edmund  Yalden,  Vicar  of  Newton  Valence. 
In  May,  Mrs.  Charles  White,  the  wife  of  the  Rector 
of  Bradley  and  Swarraton,  died. 

On  May  2nd,  1753,  Gilbert  White  went  out  of 
his  office  of  Proctor,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month 
set  out  for  '*  London,  Sunbury,  and  Selborne." 
Writing  at  this  time,  Mulso  begs  that  *'when  you 
come  you  will  bring  your  Selbourne  voice  that  you 
may  be  heard  in  our  church."  Later  on,  in  July,  he 
paid  a  visit  to  his  relative.  Dr.  White,  at  Christian 
Malford,  Wilts,  on  his  way  to  ''a  seven  weeks'  season 
at  the  Hot  well  at  Bristol,  from  July  9th  to  August 
the  30th." 

A  slight  feverish  attack  seems  to  have  been  the 
cause  of  this  visit,  since  Mulso,  after  mentioning 
that  he  himself,  like  his  friend,  had  been  suffering 
from  "Inward  Heat,"  continues — 


1753 


VISITS  BRISTOL  HOT  WELL  75 


''I  carried  your  letter  to  Kew,  where  it  was  read  by- 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons.  My  uncle  laughed  heartily 
at  your  Hectic  Heat^  and  my  aunt  said  that  half  such  a  joke 
was  a  serious  Proposal,  and  we  laughed  beforehand  at  the 
fright  we  suppose  you  in  at  reading  this,  by  which  you  find 
you  have  drawn  yourself  into  a  Praemunire.  ...  As  to  your 
Rags  and  Chips,  Heck  totally  disdains  all  sinister  and 
Canidian  Use  of  the  same ;  and  protests  she  trusts  to  no 
Foreign  Charms  for  your  demolition" — 

a  passage  which,  in  itself,  clearly  disposes  of  the 
statement,  above  noticed,  that  this  lady  was  the 
object  of  an  unrequited  attachment  on  the  part 
of  her  friend. 


CHAPTER  V. 

On  September  9th,  1753,  Gilbert  White  became 
Curate  of  the  small  rural  parish  of  Durley,  near  , 
Bishop's  Waltham,  Hants.  In  the  latter  place  he 
had  lodgings,  paying  Mr.  Gibson,  the  Eector  of 
Bishop's  Waltham,  £20  for  a  year's  board ;  but  his 
curacy  probably  only  involved  Sunday  duty,  since 
he  appears  to  have  constantly  visited  his  family 
at  Selborne,  riding  backwards  and  forwards  on 
"Mouse." 

It  is  noted  by  Mr.  Bell^  that,  during  the  year 
and  a  half  his  curacy  of  Durley  continued,  his 
expenses  exceeded  the  receipts  from  his  curacy  by 
nearly  £20,  from  which  he  infers  that  Gilbert 
White  was  influenced  by  ''unselfishness  and  true 
Christian  liberality  in  accepting  such  a  poor  cure." 
Perhaps,  however,  the  fact  that  this  curacy,  though 
a  poorly  paid  one,  did  not  involve  a  continuous 
severance  from  his  home  at  Selborne  may  have  in- 
fluenced him  in  accepting  it.     Certainly  the  Garden 

*  Vide  Bell's  edition  of  '  The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Sel- 
borne,* vol.  i.  pp.  xxxiv.,  XXXV. 

76 


1753  CUEATE  OF  DUELEY  77 

Kalendar  was  continued  very  much  as  before,  and 
in  his  handwriting,  until  the  end  of  October.  It 
commences  again  towards  the  end  of  February, 
1754. 

Writing  to  his  friend  on  October  18th,  1753, 
Mulso  says  : — 

"I  am  well  pleased  to  hear  from  yourself  that  you  are 
settled  for  a  Time  and  in  a  Place  to  your  liking.  ...  I  who 
came  to  attend  your  Glory,  when  you  glistened  in  your 
Velvet,  and  powdered  your  grand  wig  every  day,  find  an 
equal  desire  to  wait  upon  the  weather-beaten  curate  of 
Durley,  in  his  dirty  Boots  and  dripping  Bob.  *  Omnis 
Aristippum  decuit  Color  et  Status  et  Ees.*  You  are  the 
Philosopher.  ...  I  remember  the  hospitality  of  Gibson  on 
our  way  to  Gosport  from  Winchester.  I  likewise  remem- 
ber the  romantic  scene  which  you  mention  in  your  letter, 
which  paid  me  for  being  more  than  half  starved  in  going 
to  see  it.  .  .  .  My  uncle  [the  Bishop]  asked  me,  how  you 
came  to  take  a  curacy  ?  I  told  him  because  I  knew  that 
it  was  your  sentiment  that  a  Clergyman  should  not  be  idle 
and  unemployed" — 

a  remark  of  some  importance  in  view  of  certain 
strictures  to  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer 
presently.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  upon  this  senti- 
ment Gilbert  White  acted  during  his  whole  life. 

In  October,  1753,  the  Curate  of  Durley  posted  to 
Oxford  in  order  to  resign  the  Deanship  of  Oriel. 
Returning  to  Durley  he  bought,  and  no  doubt  care- 
fully studied,  a  new  edition  of  *  Miller's  Gardening 
Dictionary'  and  'Raii  Methodus,'  the  latter  a^book 
to  which  he  constantly  refers  in  after  years. 


78  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1753 

On  December  24th,  1753,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"You  will  find  enclosed  with  this  the  song  you  desired 
me  to  procure  you.  ...  I  see  your  good  Father  setting 
himself  to  his  Harpsichord  and  trying  it  above  forty  times ; 
for  unless  his  hand  is  more  in  than  when  I  saw  him,  he 
will  be  some  time  recovering  so  full  a  Tune.  Harry  turns 
up  his  honest  face  into  the  air,  and  pours  out  his  part 
presently.     Harry  has  a  good  ear." 

The  family  was  a  musical  one.  The  diaries  kept 
by  Harry  White,  when  Kector  of  Fyfield,  continually 
mention  musical  evenings  at  his  house,  which  con- 
tained, besides  a  piano,  a  harpsichord,  spinet,  violin, 
and  violoncello.  They  show,  moreover,  that  he  could 
not  only  play  but  tune  a  harpsichord. 

Cut  off  as  he  seems  to  have  been  from  his  home 
during  the  winter  months,  the  Curate  of  Durley 
found  time  to  indulge  in  a  little  shooting.  He 
also  entertained  ''the  Waltham  gentry,"  and  in 
March  went  ''with  Ladies  to  a  puppet  shew,"  pre- 
sumably at  some  fair.  With  the  opening  of  spring 
the  Selborne  garden  received  much  of  his  attention, 
the  Garden  Kalendar  containing  numerous  entries 
of  improvements,  alterations,  planting,  etc.,  as  the 
year  went  on.  His  headquarters,  however,  were 
still  at  Waltham — unless  indeed  the  Selborne  house 
should  really  receive  this  appellation. 

However,  other  matters  than  gardening  received 
attention,  since  Mulso  writes  on  February  9th, 
1754  :— 


1754  ILLNESS   OF  JOHN  WHITE  79 

"I  presume  by  your  enquiries  after  modern  copies  of 
Diogenes  and  Aristippus,  that  you  have  imitated  the  17th 
Ep.  of  the  1st  book  of  Horace.  If  so,  I  look  upon  it  as 
lawful  Prize,  and  put  in  for  a  Sight  of  it.  .  .  .  It  is  an 
odd  time  of  the  year  for  you  to  see  gardens  in ;  I  had  rather 
.see  them  in  your  description  than  in  reality.  You  have 
carried  me  round  a  very  pleasant  Tour." 

On  March  26th,  1754,  Mulso  wrote  again  : — 

"  Am  I  to  suppose  that  your  life  has  in  it  a  great  deal  of 
sameness  or  a  great  variety,  that  you  are  so  bad  a  corre- 
spondent? ...  I  was  in  town  about  three  weeks  ago  and 
there  saw  your  brother  Jack,  and  a  very  smart  parson  he 
makes.  He  knew  nothing  of  you  and  your  motions.  Mean- 
while you  are  like  a  comet,  who  in  your  'secreto  itinere  et 
certo  errore'  are  sucking  in  little  worlds  of  knowledge  and 
funds  of  light,  with  which  when  you  roll  this  way,  you 
are  to  astonish  and  eclipse  us  with  your  blaze." 

He  goes  on  to  request  his  friend  to  find  him 
a  horse,  and  proceeds  to  describe  perfection  in  horse- 
flesh, from  his  own  point  of  view,  which  he  expects 
to  procure  for  twelve  pounds  at  the  most,  *' which 
I  hope  in  Hampshire  is  a  tolerable  price." 

At  this  time  an  attack  of  illness  sufiered  by 
Gilbert  White's  father  at  Selborne  drew  the  follow- 
ing encomium  from  Mulso,  who  wrote  on  April  5th, 
1754  :— 

"  I  hope  you  are  now  on  the  safe  side,  and  that  Mr.  White 
is  out  of  all  danger.  Knowing  Mr.  White  as  I  do,  I  can 
testify  the  truth  of  those  virtues,  which  you,  with  all  the 
warmth  of  filial  piety  ascribe  to  him.  No  good  man  can 
die  without  being  a  great  loss,  and  I  know  in  how  many 


80  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1754 

respects  your  excellent  father  would  be  so.  Amiable  family! 
where  the  parent  is  loved  for  the  children's  sake,  and  the 
children  for  the  father's." 

He  goes   on  to  accept  the  loan  of   *'  your  little 

horse,"    which,    however,    was    promptly    returned. 

Writing  on  May  7th,   1754,  three  reasons  for  this 

are  given  : — 

"  First,  he  is  broken- winded,  and  wheezes  so  loud  that  my 
heartache  will  do  me  more  harm  than  the  air  good;  next, 
I  was  forced  to  carry  his  head;  then  he  is  intolerably 
shabby,  and  will  not  go  on  a  handgallop  without  constant 
incitement  of  spur  and  whip.  Nor  can  I  conceive,  what 
with  age  and  infirmities,  how  it  is  possible  for  him  to  keep 
company  with  a  horse  fourteen  feet  [sic]  high.  I  like  his 
paces  pretty  well,  and  believe  when  he  was  young,  that  he 
was  an  agreeable  creature,  but  would  you  have  the  Prince  of 
Wales  know  me  by  such  a  horse,  as  he  did  by  my  lame  one  ? 

Notwithstanding  the  horse  episode,  the  friendship 
continued  unbroken,  the  Curate  of  Durley  being  in- 
vited to  visit  Sunbury.  His  friend,  writing  on  May 
28th,  1754,  promised 

"  to  find  a  method  to  trot  about  with  you  while  you  are  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  either  by  borrowing  or  hiring.     You 
shall  compare  accounts  with  the  travelled  Mr.  Aldrich,  and 
by  your  descriptions  of  your  native  Selboume  you  shall 
'  Shame  Vallombrosa  and  her  Tuscan  glooms.' 

...  I  hope  your  uncle  White  is  well.  I  suppose  he  comes 
often  over  to  Selbourne,  for  I  suppose  you  seldomer  visit 
Bradley  than  Selbourne  now." 

The  visit  was  paid  in  June.  On  September  16th, 
1754,  Mulso  writes  : — 


1:754 


VISITS   OXFORD  81 


"  Do  you  go  to  Oxford  upon  the  scheme  you  mentioned  ? 
fs  there  a  hope  of  its  succeeding?  or  are  you  to  sit  down 
it  Waltham  this  winter,  and  warm  yourself  by  the  widow's 
ire?" 

A.  remark  which  probably  has  some  connection  with 
the  following  entry  in  G.  White's  account-book : — 

"Oct.  14. — Postchaises  from  Bradley  to  Oxon.  on  Mr. 
Whiting's  death." 

The  letter  proceeds  to  mention  more  improvements 
in  the  Selborne  fields,  where  *'six  gates  one  above 
another  in  Perspective "  had  been  contrived,  ap- 
parently between  "The  Wakes"  and  the  Hanger. 
A  little  later,  on  November  13th,  1754,  some  acci- 
dent to  his  friend's  knee,  which  nearly  had  serious 
consequences,  called  forth  these  comments  from 
Mulso  :— 

"  I  don't  know  anybody  who  would  have  felt  the  severity 
of  being  a  cripple  more  livelily  than  yourself,  for  if  you  once 
come  to  confinement  you  are  gone." 

Probably  this  accident  detained  the  patient  at 
Oxford,  where  he  stayed  till  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber; whence  he  posted  "  the  day  after  Harry's  election 
to  Bishop  Robinson's  Exhibition"  (at  Oriel),  which 
no  doubt  was  the  object  of  the  journey  to  Oxford. 

The  letter  continues — 

"  I  had  not  heard  the  circumstances  of  Whiting's  death. 
I  heartily  wish  that  all  party  rage  had  died  with  him ;  and 
that  not  so  much  because  we  have  increasing  obligations  to 
the  present  Family,  but  for  a  real  regard  for  the  University, 

VOL.  I. — Q 


82  GILBEET  WHITE  OF  SELBOKNE  175 

which  is  in  a  very  low  consideration  for  the  sake  of  a  parce 
of  Fools,  who  are  a  disgrace  to  it  in  every  view,  and  are  0 
the  most  contracted  hearts  of  any  set  of  men  that  I  know 
I  am  very  glad  that  Dr.  Bentham*  is  to  have  so  long  j 
grace,  but  do  not  see  how  it  naturally  comes  to  pass,  and  i 
by  an  interest  it  is  a  good  sign  I  hope  that  he  is  stronger  ii 
it  than  I  once  thought.  .  .  .  How  did  Whiting  salve  to  hi! 
conscience  the  holding  his  fellowship  six  years  in  wedlock' 
Was  this  one  of  his  indefeasable  rights?" 

These  remarks  are  of  importance  as  showing  the 
lax  manner  in  which,  at  this  time,  the  college  statutes 
respecting  the  avoidance  of  fellowships  were  carried 
out.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  question  of  this  kind  was 
thought  to  have  arisen  a  few  years  afterwards  in  the 
case  of  Gilbert  White,  when  the  Provost  of  the  time 
(Dr.  Musgrave)  acted  in  a  very  different  spirit. 

On  December  24th,  1754,  Mulso  writes  again: — 

"I  indulged  myself  lately  at  Mr.  Hubert's,  who  winters 
with  us,  in  talking  of  you,  and  I  had  no  occasion  to  exert  my 
rhetoric  to  gain  you  favour.  You  was  spoken  of  in  a  very 
handsome  manner  by  Mr.  Hubert's  family,  and  Phil  desired 
to  sum  up  the  character  by  saying,  in  short,  he  is  the  Gentle- 
man. I  don't  know  whether  you,  who  was  always  averse  to 
a  distinction  of  Place's  being  made  a  distinction  of  Merit,  will 
be  satisfied  with  this  corollary ;  but  I  can  assure  you  it  was, 
in  the  sense  of  him  who  used  it,  as  perfect  and  compleat  a 
one  as  any  of  Euclid's.  ...  I  think  I  have  wished  you  joy 
of  your  brother  Hal's  success.  You  have  established  your 
character  I  presume  of  a  Plotter.  I  am  glad  to  hear  of 
Dr.  Bentham's  long  grace." 

•  Fellow  and  tutor  of  Oriel  College,  who  had  recently  accepted  a  living 
and  married. 


1766  CUKATE   OF  WEST  DENE  83 

In  January,  1755,  the  oldest  (in  every  sense  of 
the  word)  inmate  of  ''The  Wakes  "—Gilbert  White's 
grandmother,  widow  of  the  Vicar  of  Selborne — died. 
She  had  attained  the  great  age  of  ninety-one,  as  her 
grandson  was  careful  to  record  in  the  burial  register. 

On  February  10th,  1755,  Mulso,  who  had  heard 
a  false  report  of  the  death  of  Provost  Hodges, 
writes : — 

"As  to  your  Oriel  news,  it  affords  a  Prospect,  but  I 
suppose  you  hardly  entertain  solid  hopes  of  any  present 
preferment  by  it,  tho'  it  may  make  way  for  Harry.  Young 
.if  Mr.  Shaw  of  Cheshunt  would  yesterday  have  persuaded 
me  that  Dr.  Hodges  was  dead  and  that  you  was  going 
to  be  Provost  in  his  Koom.  I  should  have  liked  one  part 
of  the  news  very  well  if  true,  but  I  know  you  would  have 
invited  me  to  condole  with  you  upon  the  death  of  the 
worthy  Provost." 

These,  however,  were  dreams  of  the  future.  After 
the  usual  visit  to  Oxford  at  Easter,  Gilbert  White 
made  arrangements  to  take  up  temporarily  another 
curacy,  that  of  West  Dene,  or  Deane,  in  Wiltshire, 
not  far  from  Salisbury,  and  just  on  the  borders  of 
Hampshire.  Writing  to  him  there  on  April  8th, 
1755,  after  mentioning  that  his  uncle  was  looking 
towards  Salisbury  for  a  place  to  put  his  mitre  in, 
Mulso  continues  : — 

"  Perhaps  it  is  better  being  a  Bishop  than  a  curate  there, 
but  indeed  I  am  not  sure,  for  as  a  friend  of  mine*  sang, 

*  About  content  why  keep  we  such  a  Riot  ? 
'Tis  here,  at  Cowbitt,t  if  we  could  be  quiet.' 

*  Evidently  the  friend  he  was  addressing, 
t  In  the  Lincolnshire  fens. 


84  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1755 

You  give  me  pleasure  in  hearing  of  the  stand  made  against 
the  perverse  party  at  Oriel.  I  would  the  Provost  should 
live  till  you  succeed  him  (if  that  is  English ;  it  sounds 
Irish);  and  then  if  I  have  a  son,  he  goes  to  Oriel." 

Before  going  to  Dene,  however,  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  go  on  May  1st  to  have  another  "  7  weeks 
season"  at  the  Hot  Well  at  Bristol,  returning  to  Dene; 
where  he  took  up  his  residence,  at  the  beginning  of 
July,  as  curate  to  Mr.  Edmund  Yalden,  Vicar  of 
Newton  Valence  and  of  West  Dene. 

On  May  28th,  1755,  Mulso,  who  had  been  pro- 
mised a  canonry  by  his  uncle,  writes  again  : — 

"The  everlasting  prebendaries  of  Peterborough  are  all  in 
good  health  as  I  am  informed  by  the  Bishop.  ...  I  am 
charmed  with  your  description  of  the  site  of  your  par- 
sonage house. .  .  .  You  threaten  me  if  I  do  not  send  you  word 
of  some  preferment  falling  to  me,  that  you  will  supplant 
me  by  making  love  to  my  cozens :  truly  (but  this  is 
entirely  entre  nous)  that  Sap  is  begun,  or  I  am  much 
mistaken;  so  that,  if  it  does  not  fall  soon,  I  may  chance 
to  hear  that  though  a  nephew  is  dear,  a  child  is  dearer; 
which  on  such  an  occasion  would  be  a  melancholy  Truth 
which  I  could  not  gainsay.  ...  I  travelled  very  pleasantly 
with  you  to  the  Hot  Wells  in  imagination,  yet  your  first 
day's  journey  of  34  miles  would  in  reality  I  believe  have 
finished  me.  ...  I  sincerely  wish  you  had  a  living  like 
Dene,  and  the  thorough  good  sort  of  damoiselle  that  you 
mention,  that  your  wishes  might  be  compleated,  and  that 
I  might  say,  I  know  and  have  a  value  for  Mr.  White  of 
such  a  place,  for  now  you  are  of  no  place  for  a  fortnight 
a  perfect  Cup  of  unsettled." 


1755  CUKATE  OF  DENE  AND  NEWTON  85 

That  his  new  abode  was  not  entirely  to  Gilbert 
White's  liking  appears  from  the  following  sentence 
in  a  letter  of  September  18th,  1755,  from  Mulso : — 

"I  hope  this  will  find  you  well  and  reconciled  to  your 
situation;  which,  tho'  you  have  as  much  true  Philosophy 
as  any  man  I  know,  yet  is  not  to  your  taste,  if  it  is  really 
solitary." 

He  managed,  however,  to  amuse  himself  some- 
times, for  he  visited  "  Sarum,  Stonehenge,  and 
Wilton  [House]"  with  his  relatives  the  Barkers, 
and  paid  "a  man  for  showing  me  troufle-hunting," 
of  which  he  afterwards  wrote  in  his  book.  Some- 
times, too,  he  went  over  to  Selborne,  and  continued 
to  write  his  Garden  Kalendar  there;  riding  over, 
of  course,  which  accounts  for  the  not  infrequent 
purchases  of  "  black  leather  riding-breeches."  In 
these  solitary  excursions  on  horseback  he  had  good 
opportunities,  which  were  certainly  used,  for  ob- 
serving natural  objects  of  many  kinds,  both  flora 
and  fauna.  His  friend,  who  had  now  been  engaged 
to  be  married  for  ten  years,  continued  : — 

"Do  not  you  fix  your  eye  upon  Cromhall  or  Tortworth, 
[Oriel  livings]  or  indeed  upon  anything  particular ;  for  the 
fixt  eye  will  be  an  aking  one,  believe  me.  I  have  looked  at 
Peterboro'  til  it  now  seems  lost  in  a  mist." 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1755  Gilbert  White 
undertook  duty  for  Mr.  Yalden  at  Newton  Valence, 
close  to  Selborne,  as  well  as  at  Dene.  For  some 
considerable  time  his  father's  health  had  been  giving 


86  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1756 

anxiety  to  his  family ;  and  this,  of  course,  made  his 
son  all  the  more  anxious  to  return,  probably  to  the 
vicarage  at  Selborne,  which  place,  as  it  happened, 
was  from  this  time  to  be  always  his  home. 
Mulso  writes  on  December  6th,  1755  : — 

"  I  am  sorry  that  your  duty  is  so  increased  as  to  be 
grown  troublesome,  yet  methinks  I  am  glad  that  you  are 
got  near  enough  to  be  more  a  comfort  to  Mr.  White.  .  .  .  Tell 
me  of  your  Vases  and  Obelisks ;  let  me  see  them  in  imagi- 
nation, if  not  in  reality ;  I  have  a  pretty  good  idea  of  your 
grounds,  place  me  at  my  proper  distance,  and  let  me  see 
your  Antonines  and  Trajans  with  their  Egyptian  Hiero- 
glyphics. .  .  .  Cannot  you  make  that  idle  rogue  Jack* 
change  duties  for  some  time,  when  he  is  disposed  to  visit 
his  father." 

Early  in  1756  his  final  visit,  for  the  time,  to 
Dene,  was  apparently  made ;  and  from  this  time  the 
Garden  Kalendar  gives  evidence  of  leisure  spent 
in  the  Selborne  gardens  in  planting  many  sorts  of 
shrubs  and  plants,  some  of  them  received  from 
brother  Thomas  in  London,  ''in  the  basons  in  the 
field,"  ''  opening  a  vista  for  an  obelisk,"  etc. 

Writing  on  April  23rd,  1756,  Mulso  says  : — 

"Now  you  begin  to  see  the  effects  of  your  vases  and 
obelisk  amongst  the  green  Hedges.  Your  gates  still  remain 
mysterious,  but  your  very  exact  and  strong  description  has 
set  your  other  improvements  before  my  eyes." 

He  continues — 

"  Pray,  Gil,  let  me  know  a  Truth.  You  stand  indited  by 
the  name  of  Gilbert  White  Clerk,  for  that  you  having  the 

•  John  White,  Gilbert's  brother,  was  at  this  time  a  curate  in  London. 


1756  IMPROVES   SELBORNE  GARDENS  87 

whole  and  sole  Property  of  a  thing  called  a  Sermon  wrote  by 

j^iss  M 0,  keeping  it  from  the  family  of  the  said  Miss 

out  of  a  pretended  Pride  of  having  a  manuscript  value 
10,000  &c  &c  &c:  have  yet  let  this  manuscript  escape  out 
of  your  Possession ;  Mr.  Proctor  Turley  of  Sunbury  having 
proffered  me  to  get  sight  of  the  same ;  as  we  suppose,  tho' 
not  yet  proved,  by  means  of  his  uncle  Brown,  Bookseller, 
who  is  acquainted  with  Mr.  Whiston,  Bookseller,  &  B.  White 
ditto,  brother  of  the  said  G.  White  y®  Delinquent :  who  is 
mainly  suspected  of  having  made  undue  communications  of 
these  Lady-Favours,  a  thing  unpardonable,  and  till  this  time 
unsuspected  in  the  said  G.  White.  Please  to  clear  up  these 
affairs,  before  condemnation  is  passed  in  the  King's  Square 
Court."* 

The  above  passage  is  scarcely  what  a  brother 
would  have  written  to  a  friend  who  cherished  an  un- 
requited passion  for  his  sister.  That  friend  was  at 
this  time  constantly  engaged  in  embellishing  the 
Selborne  grounds. 

From  the  Garden  Kalendar  : — 

"  May  14th.  Set  up  my  first  oil-jar  vase  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ewel  close,  with  a  pannel  only  in  front ;  mount  pedestal 
and  vase  nine  feet  high. 

•'19th.  Set  up  my  second  oil-jar  vase  at  the  top  of  the 
broad  walk,  with  a  face  to  the  cross-walk;  mount  pedestal 
and  jar  some  inches  above  nine  feet  high." 

In  opening  out  his  father's  grounds  and  making 
ha-ha's  and  cutting  vistas,  Gilbert  White  was  follow- 
ing the  fashion  first  set  by  William  Kent,  painter 
and  landscape  gardener  (1685-1748),  who  did  more 
than   anyone   to   abolish  walled,   closed-in   gardens, 

*  The  residence  of  Mr.  Mulso,  senior. 


88  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORKE  1756 

witli  monstrosities  in  the  shape  of  clipped  trees  and 
hedges. 

In  June  he  was  able  to  spend  a  holiday  of  about 
a  month  at  Sunbury  with  Mulso,  who,  after  a  long 
engagement,  had  just  been  married  to  Miss  Young, 
receiving  on  the  occasion  a  soup  tureen,  which  he 
thought  "a  great  beauty,"  from  his  old  friend — a  fact 
which  confutes  the  statement  sometimes  made  that 
wedding  presents  are  of  comparatively  recent 
origin. 

On  August  23rd,  1756,  his  friend  again  writes  : — 

"  You  will  remember  that  you  have  two  commissions  for 
me ;  one  to  get  me  a  horse  for  ten  guineas,  and  the  other 
to  get  me  a  curate.  I  had  rather  have  both  from  your 
Recommendation  than  from  any  other  man's  in  England, 
because  you  are  more  able  to  see  with  your  own  Eyes  than 
any  man  I  know  besides.  .  .  . 

"...  How  goes  on  the  Pyramid  ?  Have  you  clapped  on 
the  Handles  to  your  urns  ?  Does  your  father  like  your 
Improvements?  They  must  make  a  sort  of  new  scene  to 
him  at  home." 

Purchases  of  a  setting-net  and  powder  and  shot,  at 
this  time,  show  that  the  Naturalist's  sporting  days 
were  not  yet  over.  In  October  a  week  was  spent  at 
Oxford,  where  he  paid  "for  Divinity  Disputations 
£3  3.  0." ;  returning  home  by  way  of  Sunbury, 
whither  he  went  to  "sacrifice  your  Pleasure  to  my 
convenience,  as  usual,"  as  his  friend,  who  was  unwell, 
wrote.  These  visits  to  Oxford,  in  addition  to  the 
Easter  one,  which  he  never  missed,  are  by  no  means 


1756  STORIES   IN  COMMON-ROOM  89 

uncommon  ;  a  circumstance  which  is  scarcely  con- 
sistent with  a  statement  which  has  been  made  in 
recent  years,  but  without  any  sort  of  evidence  to 
support  it,  that  Gilbert  White's  relations  with  the 
members  of  his  college  were  not  entirely  cordial. 
Mr.  Jesse  states,^  "  on  the  authority  of  one  of  his 
nephews,"  in  a  short  biography  of  Gilbert  White  : — 

"As  long  as  his  health  allowed  him  he  always  attended 
the  annual  election  of  Fellows  t  of  Oriel  College,  where  the 
gentlemen  Commoners  were  allowed  the  use  of  the  Common- 
room  after  dinner.  This  liberty  they  seldom  availed  them- 
selves of,  except  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  White's  visits;  for 
such  was  his  happy,  and,  indeed  inimitable  manner  of 
relating  an  anecdote,  and  telling  a  story,  that  the  room 
always  filled  when  he  was  there." 

Perhaps  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written 
in  1783  by  Gilbert  White's  niece,  Mary,  to  her 
brother,  Thomas  Holt- White,  at  Oriel,  may  refer  to 
one  of  these  stories  : — 

"  I  want  to  know  when  you  got  into  your  rooms  and  how 
you  liked  them,  and  Oxford  in  general,  but  that  I  suppose 
you  will  say  at  present  you  can  be  no  judge  of.  My  Uncle 
White  says  he  remembers  calling  on  two  brothers  who 
inhabited  the  same  rooms,  and  desiring  to  borrow  a  pen  and 
ink,  and  his  being  rather  surprised  with  the  answer  that 
they  really  never  had  possessed  any  since  they  came  to 
College,  tho'  they  had  been  there  two  or  three  years.  I 
hope  this  fashion  is  not  general,  indeed  he  mentions  it  as 
rather  a  particular  thing." 


*  Bohn's  edition,  1854,  p.  xi. 

+  For  this  we  should  read  "The  annual  audit  of  accounts.' 


90  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1756 

On  November  6th,  1756,  Mr.  Yalden  settled  with 
his  curate  for  supplying  the  curacies  of  Dene  and 
Newton  "for  a  year  and  a  quarter "  to  that  date. 

The  curacy  of  Selborne  was,  apparently,  for  the 
second  time  undertaken  by  Gilbert  White  at  this 
time,  since  he  records  the  payment  of  £15  from 
Dr.  Bristowe,  the  Vicar,  on  this  account  in  April, 
1757;  and  a  further  sum  of  £10  "in  full"  on 
July  4th  of  the  same  year. 

In  November,  1756,  the  following  entry  appears  : — 

Year's  Board  for  self  and  Mouse     £      s.       d. 
[his  horse]  to  my  father  to 
Nov.  5  .  .         .     40     00     00," 

the  vicarage  house  of  Selborne  having  merely  afforded 
sleeping  accommodation. 

On  January  13th,  1757,  Mulso,  who  had  received 
no  news  of  his  friend  for  some  time,  writes  : — 

"  I  conclude  that  the  mornings  were  spent  in  riding,  and 
the  afternoons  in  Burnet's  '  History  of  the  Eeformation ' ; 
and  I  had  two  pictures  of  you  before  my  eyes ;  one  was  the 
scene  of  Dr.  Bristow's  parlour,  and  the  other  your  own.  In 
the  first  you  was  a  solitary  Figure,  and  as  hard  at  it  as  Duns 
Scotus ;  in  the  other  I  had  represented  the  very  pleasing 
Figure  of  Miss  White,  with  some  Housewifery  in  her  Hand, 
and  giving  now  and  then  an  agreeable  interruption  to  your 
Labours.  Harry  was  cast  into  the  Shade,  and  it  was  doubt- 
ful whether  he  was  studying  or  no;  but  this  confusedness 
of  my  ideas  was  owing  to  his  being  so  perverse  as  not  to 
confirm  his  Image  in  my  Imagination  when  I  was  in 
Hampshire." 


1757  STANDS  FOE  ORIEL  PROVOSTSHIP  91 

He  goes  on — 

"  I  am  glad  that  you  got  to  some  success  at  last  at  Oriel, 
and  I  wish  you  joy  of  tiles  and  thatch.  You,  who  can  make 
£20  go  farther  than  I  can  £40,  have  a  pretty  little  increase 
by  this  curacy.  ...  I  am  glad  you  are  so  well  at  the  Grange, 
and  that  my  Lord*  is  so  open  with  you.  If  Expectation 
makes  the  blessing  dear,  you  and  I  are  like  to  have  the 
dearest  blessings  in  the  World." 

This  preferment  was  the  perpetual  curacy  of 
Moreton  Pinkney,  in  Northamptonshire,  about  to 
become  vacant  through  its  holder's  promotion.  The 
matter  was  not,  however,  finally  settled  till  December, 
1757. 

Meanwhile  an  event  of  importance  occurred.  The 
Provost  of  Oriel,  Dr.  Walter  Hodges,  died  on 
January  14th,  1757  ;  and  Gilbert  White  became  a 
candidate  for  the  office,  but  unsuccessfully,  since  on 
January  27tli  Mr.  Chardin  Musgrave,  fourth  son 
of  Sir  Christopher  Musgrave,  of  Eden  Hall,  was 
elected. 

On  February  24th,  1757,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  I  received  yours  from  Oxford  Jan.  28th  with  an  account 
of  your  election  at  Oriel ;  but  the  first  account  that  I 
received  of  it  was  from  Sir  Philip  Musgrave,  who  had  a 
variety  of  fortune  happened  in  his  Family  in  the  space 
of  a  Fortnight ;  for  he  had  a  son  and  Heir  born,  his  sister 
Spragg  left  a  widow  with  about  £10,000,  and  Chardin  chosen 
Provost :  and  since  that  time  died  Mr.  Beckford  from  whom 

•  The  Lord  Keeper.  At  this  time  Sir  Robert  Henley,  a  Hampshire  neigh- 
bour and  friend  of  the  White  family,  who  afterwards  became  Lord  Chan- 
cellor. 


92  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1757 

my  Lady  had  I  believe  expectations  of  getting  something. 
Sir  Philip  spoke  of  Frewen's  proceedings  as  not  very  hand- 
some upon  the  occasion,  and  as  putting  them  to  the 
necessity  of  applying  out  of  the  College,  when  they  would 
have  had  it  determined  there.  How  that  may  be  I  do  not 
know;  but  as  you  have  not  been  the  man  on  this  Preferment, 
I  am  not  sorry  for  the  success  of  Chardin;  unless  it  may 
prove  any  obstruction  to  your  designs  for  your  brother 
Harry,  which  I  greatly  hope  it  will  not.  If  Chardin 
behaves  in  his  post  with  the  good  sense  and  judgment 
that  Sir  Philip  talked  of  it,  the  College  will  have  no  reason 
to  repent  their  choice.  I  have  still  a  good  deal  to  say  to 
you  on  this  subject,  but  intend  to  say  it  and  not  to  write  it." 

After  referring  to  the  late  Provost's  legacy  to  the 
College,  he  continues — 

"  I  am  sorry  you  mention  no  remembrances  to  you  or 
your  Family,  but  your  brother  Harry  has  the  greatest  loss 
in  this  Friend." 

How  far  his  non-success  was  a  disappointment 
to  Gilbert  White  can  now  only  be  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. His  friend,  however,  regretted  it,  and  wrote 
again  a  little  later,  on  March  19th,  1757  : — 

"  With  regard  to  the  affair  of  Oriel,  I  heartily  wish  you 
had  put  yourself  up  from  the  beginning,  if  anything  we  could 
have  done  would  have  given  you  success.  But  yet  I  think 
you  judge  of  the  issue  of  Chardin's  election  otherwise  than 
you  will  find  it  turn  out :  at  least  I  hope  so.  But  I  believe 
this  subject  will  do  better  to  talk  upon  than  to  write  upon ; 
for  tho'  we  agree  in  opinion  pretty  well,  a  little  error  of  the 
Pen  may  make  a  Discordancy,  and  I  find  that  with  you 
Oriel  men  goes  farther  than  I  think,  in  justice,  it  should. 
As  to  your  Brother,  nothing  in  my  talk  with  Sir  Philip  had 


1757  MOEETON  PINKNEY  93 

any  reference  to  Him;  but  to  the  impartiality  that  he 
had  advised  him  to  observe,  as  the  best  method  of  serving 
the  College:  upon  which  principle,  if  the  Provost  observes 
it,  your  Brother  may  be  successful." 

In  obtaining  a  Fellowship,  no  doubt,  was  the 
writer's  meaning. 

In  April,  1757,  Gilbert  White  visited  Oxford  as 
usual,  and  a  little  later  (on  May  12th,  1757)  his 
constant  correspondent  writes  : — 

"  Curate  or  not  curate,  I  find  you  will  travel,  and  a  rest- 
less animal  you  still  will  be  till  I  find  you  squatted  down  in 
Fat-goose  living." 

Though  he  does  not  seem  to  have  displayed  any 
very  great  anxiety  for  a  living  at  any  time,  his 
friend  recurs  to  the  subject  on  July  14th,   1757 — 

"  I  looked,  my  dear  friend,  to  have  you  nearer  the  Town 
before  now,  and  besieging  the  Portals  of  the  Lord  Keeper ; 
I  have  great  expectations  from  that  quarter  for  you,  and  his 
preferment  has  given  me  particular  pleasure  from  knowing 
him  to  be  a  near  acquaintance  and  friend  to  you  and  yours. 
Sure  there  are  more  ways  than  one  of  vacating  a  Fellow- 
ship!" 

From  September  4th  to  October  23rd,  1757, 
Gilbert  White  acted  as  Curate  of  Dene  and  Newton 
in  the  place  of  his  cousin,  Basil  Cane,  who  was  in 
Wales.  The  living  of  Moreton  Pinkney  became 
definitely  vacant  in  October,  1757,  when  its  in- 
cumbent, Mr.  Frewen,  was  presented  by  the  college 
to  the  living  of  S.  Mary's,  Oxford.  On  October 
17th   the   Provost's    memorandum-book    contains   a 


94  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1757 

statement  of  this  presentation,  and  continues,  '*by 
which  Moreton  Pinkney  will  become  vacant ;  agreed 
to  give  it  to  the  Senior  Fellow,  who  will  serve  it 
in  Person."  With  regard  to  the  latter  part  of  this 
entry  it  should  be  especially  noticed  that  residence 
had  not  previously  been  required  of  any  Fellow  who 
accepted  this  preferment,  which  was  so  small  as  not 
to  vacate  a  Fellowship.  The  next  entry  referring  to 
this  subject  is — 

"Dec.  15.  Moreton  Pinkney  given  to  Mr.  White  as  Senior 
Petitioner,  tho'  without  his  intentions  of  serving  it,  not 
choosing  to  waive  his  claim,  tho'  Mr.  Land  would  have 
accepted  it  upon  the  other  more  agreeable  terms  to  the 
society;  I  agreed  to  this  to  avoid  any  possibility  of  a 
misconception  of  partiality,  as  I  am  convinced  the  major 
part  of  those  present  did  also;  but  agreed  for  the  future 
that  in  any  of  the  Tenable  preferments  Preference  shall 
be  given  to  any  Fellow  who  will  undertake  to  serve  the 
cure,  before  a  Senior  who  would  put  in  a  Deputy." 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  sudden  access  of  virtue 
which  inspired  the  resolution  to  insist  upon  the 
residence  of  the  new  incumbent  was  coincident  with 
the  appointment  of  a  Provost,  who  had  not  only 
recently  been  in  rivalry  with  Gilbert  White,  but, 
as  plainly  appears  from  a  former  letter  of  Mulso's, 
had  also  for  some  time  been  regarded  by  him  with 
some  amount  of  dislike,  which  was  probably,  and 
not  unnaturally,  reciprocated. 

On  his  part,  Gilbert  White  no  doubt  urged,  as 
was  the   fact,  that  in  the  case  of  this  very  small 


1758  VICAK  OF  SELBORNE  DIES  95 

cure  residence  had  never  hitherto  been  considered 
;l  condition  of  appointment,  and  that  the  new  stipu- 
lation ought  not  to  set  aside  his  claim  to  hold  it 
upon  the  customary  conditions.  Though  he  occa- 
sionally visited,  he  never  resided  at  Moreton 
Pinkney ;  which  continued  to  be  served  by  a  curate, 
whose  stipend  left  some  £30  to  the  holder  of  the 
living,  who  was  formally  licensed  to  it  in  London, 
by  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  in  May,  1758. 
On  June  10th,  1758,  Mulso  writes  : — 

''  Me  thinks  I  see  you  very  busy  at  your  Father's  map  of 
France,  tracing  out  the  environs  of  St.  Malo  and  Brest.  We 
liave  very  favourable  accounts  at  present  from  all  quarters. 
.  .  .  The  year  is  as  beautiful  as  ever  I  saw.  I  long  to  be  in 
your  Grotto  [The  Hermitage] — ^elidis  sub  montibus  Hcemi 
is  your  situation." 

In  July,  1758,  the  Vicar  of  Selborne,  Dr.  Bristowe, 
who  had  been  for  some  time  incapacitated,  died. 
Mulso,  after  condolences  upon  the  death  of  such  an 
old  friend,  remarks,  on  July  13th,  1758  : — 

"I  suppose  you  have  the  care  of  the  church  upon  you 
till  the  successor  arrives.  I  beg  of  you  to  contrive  to  get 
a  great  estate,  to  be  enabled  to  live  on  at  Selbourne,  to  be 
the  friend  of  the  Poor,  who  have  now  lost  one,  and  may 
in  a  few  years  lose  another  [i.e.  Gilbert  White's  father] ;  and 
prevent  that  sweet  place  from  decaying  into  the  very  Den 
of  Poverty  and  misery:  capable  as  it  certainly  is  of  the 
highest  improvements,  and  of  being  one  of  the  most  en- 
chanting spots  in  England." 

During  the  summer  the  improvements  at  Selborne 
continued.      The   zigzag  path   received   a   cleaning. 


96  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1753 

"rocks"  were  fixed  at  the  Hermitage,  and  a  little 
later  there  is  another  entry  of  "bringing  rock  to 
the  Zigzag  and  making  an  area,"  and  two  wickets 
were  added  to  the  Zigzag.  These  "rocks"  about 
the  Hermitage  have,  like  the  building,  long  disap- 
peared from  their  position ;  but  they  are  clearly 
seen  in  the  vignette  view  of  the  Hermitage,  by 
Grimm,  which  appeared  in  the  early  editions  of 
'  The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne.' 
Writing  on  August  28th,  1758,  Mulso  says  : — 

"  You  said  you  wished  (without  prejudice  to  anybody)  you 
was  set  down  upon  the  living  of  Deane;  I  wish  you  was 
with  all  my  heart,  for  ever  since  you  mentioned  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  I  have  been  sea-sick  at  the  thoughts  of  crossing  the 
water.  And  yet  I  know  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  not 
to  come  to  see  how  you  would  improve  any  place  that  you 
was  settled  in :  but  pray,  if  you  can,  let  Fat-goose  living  be 
upon  Terra  firma.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Mulso  longs  to  see  your  altera- 
tions at  Selbourne,  neither  has  she  less  curiosity  to  know 
your  ingenious  brother.*  Every  hot  day  she  wishes  to  be 
transported  to  the  peaceful  Hermitage." 

The  Garden  Kalendar  records  on  September  5th — 
"  Eat  a  brace  of  Cantaleupes  at  the  Hermitage." 

So  pleased  were  the  contrivers  with  their  Hermit- 
age that  the  elder  brother  broke  out  into  verse. 
On  September  12th,  1758,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  You  give  us  hopes  that  we  may  see  Miss  White  as  well  as 
yourself  at  Sunbury.  You  seem  to  be  confined  by  the  seques- 
tration [of  Selborne  living],  and  yet  this  detached  little  piece 

♦  Harry,  who  used  to  appear  as  the  hermit. 


1758  LATE  SWALLOWS  97 

of  news  seems  to  mean  that  we  shall  see  you  before  you  are 
released  from  that  confinement.  .  .  . 

"I  have  been  looking  over  that  copy  of  verses  which  I 
have  in  my  possession  under  the  title  of  the  Invitation,  in 
order  to  insert  the  beautiful  Lines  which  you  have  added  in 
honour  of  your  Hermitage,*  and  to  alter  the  two  rhimes  which 
I  thought  abominable,  but  I  can  find  no  such  lines  as  begin 
with  '  Oft  on  some  evening/  etc.,  and  I  believe  that  you  sent 
some  to  Miss  Mulso  that  are  different  from  what  I  have  by 
me,  which  came  out  of  the  Fens  of  Cambridgeshire." 

The  letter  continues — 

"  Our  Swallows  and  Bank  Martins  have  long  been  dashing 
into  the  heights,  as  if  they  had  called  their  convocation  to 
debate  upon  departing.  You  know  you  was  struck  with  this 
sight  last  year." 

Swallows  and  their  doings  always  had  a  peculiar 
interest  for  the  Naturalist,  who  recorded  a  little 
later,  on  November  2nd,  1758,  in  the  Garden 
Kalendar — 

"  Saw  a  very  unusual  sight ;  a  large  flock  of  House-Martens 
playing  about  between  our  fields,  and  the  Hanger.  I  never 
saw  any  of  the  Swallow-kind  later  than  the  old  10  of 
October.  The  Hanger  being  quite  naked  of  leaves  made 
the  sight  the  more  extraordinary." 

*  Evidently  the  lines — 

"  Or  where  the  Hermit  hangs  the  straw-clad  cell, 
Emerging  gently  from  the  leafy  dell,"  etc. 

Vide  "The  Invitation  to  Selborne." 


VOL.  I. — H 


CHAPTER  VI. 

On  September  29tli,  1758,  John  White  died.  The 
news  of  his  father  s  death  was  at  once  communicated 
by  Gilbert  White  to  his  friend  Mulso,  who  wrote  in 
a  letter  of  condolence  on  October  5  th  : — 

"With  regard  to  his  family,  who  will  always  remember 
him  with  the  tenderness  and  honour  due  to  his  memory,  he 
was  spared  to  them  till  they  were  all  grown  up  to  such  a 
state  as  to  be  at  no  loss  for  a  method  and  settlement  in  Life ; 
and  what  little  is  wanting  to  Harry  would  have  naturally 
fallen  to  your  care,  had  he  lived  longer,  from  his  retired  way 
of  life." 

He  goes  on  to  remind  his  friend  that  *'  solid  is  the 
blessing  of  having  had  a  good  parent."  This  bless- 
ing, there  is  no  doubt,  the  Selborne  family  enjoyed. 
The  father  of  a  family  of  sons,  none  of  whom  were 
quite  commonplace  men,  John  White  himself  does 
not  seem  to  have  exhibited  any  great  strength  of 
character;  yet  he  earned,  and  no  doubt  deserved, 
his  children's  affections  and  the  respect  of  all  his 
neighbours.  Though  at  his  marriage  he  retired  from 
practice  at  the  Bar,  he  retained  some  connection  with 
the  Law,  since  he  was  a  magistrate  for  Hampshire. 

98 


1758  DEATH   OF  JOHN  WHITE,   SEN.  99 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  he  directed  by  will  that 
he  should  be  buried  ''  with  as  little  show  and  expence 
as  may  be  and  without  any  monument,  not  desiring 
to  have  my  name  recorded  save  in  the  Book  of  Life." 
This  injunction  was  observed  by  his  children,  but  in 
tlie  year  1811  his  descendants  put  up  a  tablet  to 
his  memory  in  the  chancel  of  the  Church.  "^ 

The  news  of  Gilbert  White's  father's  death  soon 
reached  Oxford.  The  Provost  of  Oriel's  memorandum- 
book  contains  the  following  entry  : — 

"Nov.  1^*  1758.  At  a  meeting  I  produced  Dr.  Blake's 
resignation  (his  year  of  grace  being  out)  and  pronounced  his 
place  to  be  vacant.  At  the  same  time  hinted  to  Mr.  White's 
friends  that  I  was  ignorant  what  his  circumstances  really 
were,  but  suppose  his  Estate  incompatible,  and  begged  he 
might  be  informed  that  if  a  year  of  grace  was  not  applied 
for  in  the  regular  time,  etc.,  it  could  not  be  granted." 

Evidently  John  Mulso's  ideas  upon  this  subject 
were  the  same  as  Dr.  Musgrave's,  for  at  the  end 
of  this  month  (November  28th)  he  writes  : — 

Dear  Gil, — Though  I  have  talked  with  your  brother 
Benj"  and  M""  Cane,  I  can  form  at  present  no  judgment  upon 
what  Plea  you  can  keep  your  Fellowship  with  your  Estate, 
so  that  I  cannot  give  advice  of  any  value  to  your  present 
purposes.  I  cannot  but  conclude  from  my  knowledge  of 
you,  that  the  reasons  must  appear  very  strong  to  you,  and 
that  you  could  not  be  tempted  by  Interest  to  do  anything 
contrary  to  the  Statutes  of  the  University,  or  of  your  par- 
ticular Society;  and  not  only  so,  but  that  you  can  never 

*  On  this  the  year  of  his  death  is  wrongly  given  as  1759. 


100  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1758 

forget  that  Fellowships  are  a  sort  of  Temporary  Establish- 
ments for  men  of  good  Learning  and  small  Fortunes,  till 
their  merits  or  some  fortunate  Turn*  pushes  them  into 
the  world,  and  enables  them  to  relinquish  to  men  under  the 
same  predicament.  I  am  in  no  doubt  about  what  you  owe 
to  the  present  Society  in  this  respect ;  I  speak  only  as  to  the 
general  intent  of  your  Founders  and  Benefactors,  and  as  to 
what  you  owe  to  yourself;  in  which  views  I  daresay  you 
would  be  cautious  of  appealing  to  a  Visitor,  unless  the 
affair  was  absolutely  clear  and  creditable  on  your  side. 
For  visitatorial  Decrees  being,  though  statutable,  something 
tyrannical,  must  make  the  Person  appealing  ill  looked 
upon  by  his  brethren,  unless  the  case  turns  out  quite  fair 
and  clear  on  his  side.  But  what  I  now  say  is  a  caution, 
which  is  unnecessary,  because  I  have  had  a  long  experience 
of  the  candour  and  honesty  of  your  disposition,  and  can 
make  nothing  against  the  reasons  which  you  must  have,  and 
which  are  quite  unknown  to  me.  I  have  a  good  deal  of 
curiosity  to  see  your  Letter  to  the  Society.  You  certainly 
at  present  owe  them  no  Compliments  to  your  own  disad- 
vantage. Can  you  not,  now  that  one  of  your  opposers  is 
gone,  make  a  push  for  Harry  at  the  next  Election? 

That  the  writer  s  mind  had  been  to  some  extent 
disabused  of  his  belief  in  his  friend's  wealth  is  shown 
by  this  sentence  in  the  same  letter  : — 

"  The  season  is  chilly  and  dull,  the  chearful  leaf  is  gone, 
and  the  poor  ravage  even  the  bough : — But  alas  why  do 
I  speak  of  this  only?  with  you,  my  dear  Friend,  the  good 
Tree  is  fallen  that  sheltered  so  many  under  his  hospitable 
arms.  Non  deficit  alter  indeed ;  but  if  he  was  a  little  more  I 
aureus  your  poor  neighbourhood  would  perhaps  never  misSi 
their  old  Patron,  so  riveted  is  your  natural  partiality  to 

*  e.g.  &  college  living,  which  Gilbert  White  never  accepted. 


1758  EETAINS   HIS  FELLOWSHIP  101 

Selbourne.  ...  I  hope  your  brother  Thomas  recovers  apace, 
and  that  your  Fire  Side  is  well.  I  pray  God  not  to  take 
away,  but  to  increase  your  Friends  and  your  means." 

Mr.  Bell  seems  to  have  seen  a  letter  from  the 
Provost  to  Gilbert  White,  since  he  remarks^ — 

"A  letter  from  Dr.  Musgrave,  then  Provost  of  Oriel, 
to  Gilbert  White,  dated  Dec.  24,  1758,  clearly  intimates 
that  some  representations  had  been  made  to  him  that 
Gilbert  White  'had  succeeded  on  his  father's  death  to  a 
very  large  estate,'  and  that  on  this  account  his  retention 
of  his  fellowship,  and  consequently,  his  presentation  to 
the  College  living,  were  inconsistent  with  his  present 
position.  The  Provost,  however,  declines  in  the  most 
positive  manner  to  listen  to  these  misrepresentations,  for 
such  they  undoubtedly  were,  and  probably  made  from  in- 
terested motives." 

This  letter  from  the  Provost  would  seem  to  have 
been  written  in  reply  to  one  from  Gilbert  White, 
in  which  he  had  explained  his  real  circumstances, 
and  to  have  expressed  Dr.  Musgrave's  acceptance  of 
his  statement  that  the  report  of  his  wealth  was 
unfounded.  Writing  on  February  4th,  1759,  Mulso 
says : — 

"I  met  the  Provost  in  St.  James'  Park  lately,  and  just 
cursorily  asked  him  what  he  intended  to  do  with  you,  and  he 
said  it  was  in  your  own  breast  to  keep  or  leave  your  fellow- 
ship, for  nobody  meant  to  turn  you  out  if  you  did  not  choose 
it  yourself ;  so  I  suppose  that  affair  is  settled." 

*  Fw^e  Bell's  edition  of  "The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Sel- 
borne,"  vol.  1.  p.  xxxviii. 


102  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBOENE  1759 

Again,  on  March  23rd,  1759,  he  wrote  : — 

*'  I  am  very  glad  that  you  see  my  soHcitude  about  the 
propriety  of  your  holding  your  fortune  with  your  fellow- 
ship in  the  light  that  I  could  have  wished.  It  was  owing 
to  my  jealousy  of  your  honour,  not  my  suspicion  of  it,  and 
I  was  satisfied  that  you  could  supply  me  with  an  answer 
to  those  who  might  ask  me  about  it,  though  I  could  only 
give  one  by  guess  before  to  the  same  purpose.  As  you  are 
satisfied  of  the  legality  of  holding  it,  I  think  you  are  quite 
in  the  right  to  hold  it." 

When  John  White,  a  gentleman  residing  in  the 
country  on  his  own  means,  died,  it  was  quite  natural 
and  proper  that  the  college  authorities  should  have 
called  upon  his  eldest  son  to  justify  his  retention 
of  a  Fellowship ;  but  it  seems  scarcely  so  natural  or 
proper  that  the  following  remarks  respecting  Gilbert 
White  should  in  recent  years  have  emanated  from 
his  own  College  : — 

"Gilbert  White,  of  Selborne,  among  the  fellows  of  Oriel 
at  this  period  has  left  the  most  lasting  name,  yet  his  College 
history  is  in  curious  contrast  to  the  reputation  which  is 
popularly  attached  to  him.  Instead  of  being,  as  is  often 
supposed,  the  model  clergyman  residing  in  his  cure,  and 
interested  in  all  the  concerns  of  the  parish  in  which  his 
duty  lay,  he  was,  from  a  College  point  of  view,  a  rich, 
sinecure,  pluralist  non-resident.  He  held  his  fellowship 
for  fifty  years,  1743-1793,  during  which  period  he  was  out 
of  residence,  except  for  the  year  1752-3,  when  the  Proctor- 
ship fell  to  the  College  turn,  and  he  came  up  to  take  it.  In 
1757  he  similarly  asserted  his  right  to  take  and  hold  with 
his  fellowship  the  small  college  living  of  Moreton  Pinkney, 
Northants,  with  the  avowed  intention  of  not  residing.     Even 


1759 


HIS  CONDUCT  ATTACKED  103 


at  that  time  the  conscience  of  the  College  was  shocked  at  this 
proposal  and  the  claim  only  reluctantly  admitted.  White 
continued  to  enjoy  the  emoluments  of  his  Fellowship  and 
of  his  College  living  while  he  resided  on  his  patrimonial 
estate  at  Selborne,  and,  although  it  was  much  doubted 
whether  his  fortune  did  not  exceed  the  amount  allowed  by 
the  Statutes,  he  acted  on  the  maxim  that  anything  can  be 
held  by  a  man  who  can  hold  his  tongue,  and  he  continued 
to  enjoy  his  Fellowship  and  his  living  till  his  death."  * 

That,  in  ** taking  and  holding"  with  his  Fellowship 
the  small  college  living  of  Moreton  Pinkney,  Gilbert 
White  only  did  what  the  Fellows  before  him,  and 
many  afterwards  did  without  question,  is  certain ; 
and,  as  has  been  already  stated,  the  College  had 
never  previously  sought  to  attach  the  condition  of 
residence.  His  conduct  in  this  matter  does  not 
appear,  then,  to  have  been  exceptional  or  blameable. 
But  the  gravamen  of  the  attack  on  his  reputation — 
for  it  can  be  called  nothing  else — is  undoubtedly  the 
charge  that  he,  by  concealing  his  real  pecuniary 
position  from  his  College,  continued  to  hold  im- 
properly his  Fellowship  while  living  **on  his  patri- 
monial estate  at  Selborne" — a  statement,  it  should 
be  observed,  which  is  wholly  based  on  the  one  entry 
of  November  1st,  1758,  in  the  Provost  of  Oriel's 
memorandum-book. 

So  serious  an  imputation  upon  his  honour  must  be 
fully  examined,  even  at  the  risk  of  tediousness,  by  a 
biographer. 

*  Vide  "The  Colleges  of  Oxford,"  edited  by  Andrew  Clark,  1891,  p.  121. 


104  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1759 

The  fact  is  that  the  whole  original  supposition  of 
the  Provost,  like  the  first  impression  of  John  Mulso, 
was  founded  on  total  ignorance  and  misconception 
of  the  real  pecuniary  position  of  John  White  and  his 
eldest  son.  Far  from  being  a  rich  man  residing  on 
a  comfortable  estate,  the  former  was,  at  all  events 
until  the  death  of  his  wife's  mother,  Mrs.  Holt,  in 
1753  or  early  in  1754,  a  man  of  but  very  moderate 
means  with  a  large  family  to  maintain  and  educate. 
At  an  early  date  in  his  married  life  he  had  joined 
with  his  mother  in  keeping  house  in  a  small  residence 
(The  Wakes)  at  Selborne,  in  which  parish  he  at  least 
most  assuredly  owned  no  "patrimonial  estate."  In- 
deed, it  is  not  certain  that  he  ever  owned  an  acre  or 
a  cottage  there,  though  his  father  undoubtedly  did. 
At  his  mother's  death,  in  1755,  he  inherited  one-fifth 
of  her  property,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  five  houses 
at  Oxford.  His  will  contains  a  general  bequest  of 
real  and  personal  estate  to  his  younger  children.  To 
his  eldest  son,  Gilbert,  however,  he  left  only  £20  as 
an  executor,  this  son  *' being  heir-general  to  the 
family  and  provided  for  under  my  marriage  settle- 
ment." 

Gilbert  White,  Vicar  of  Selborne,  in  his  will  only 
left  £100  to  his  son  John,  **  having  already  given 
him  his  full  share  of  my  estate  in  his  education  and 
his  marriage  settlement."  This  probably  alludes  to 
the  gift  of  some  property  to  his  son  on  his  marriage, 
since  an  examination  of  the  original  deed  of  settle- 
ment executed  on  the  marriage  of  John  White  with 


1759  HIS   MOTHEE'S   SETTLEMENT  105 

Miss  Anne  Holt  shows  that  no  property  at  all  was 
thereby  settled  by  the  former. 

The  property  which  Gilbert  White,  the  naturalist, 
now  (very  partially,  as  will  appear)  inherited,  came, 
therefore,  through  his  mother,  who,  subject  to  her 
mother's  (Mrs.  Holt's)  life  interest  therein,  brought 
into  settlement 

1.  A  house  and  lands  at  Rogate,  Surrey. 

2.  Meadow  land  at  Harting,  Sussex,  mortgaged 
for  £1,000. 

3.  Other  houses  and  lands  at  Harting. 

The  above  three  properties  were  (besides  the 
mortgage  for  £1,000  secured  on  the  second)  subject 
to  charges  amounting  to  £530,  and  an  annuity  for 
life  of  £5. 

4.  A  messuage,  lands,  etc.,  containing  sixty  acres 
in  Harting. 

5.  A  house  and  land  at  Hawkley,  Hants.* 

The  fourth  of  these  properties  was  settled  (as 
pin-money)  on  Miss  Holt  and  her  devisees  or  ap- 
pointees, and  in  default  of  any  devise  or  appointment, 
on  her  heirs  in  fee-simple.  Not  many  years  after  her 
marriage  she  joined  with  her  husband  and  mother  in 
selling  this  property,  called  the  Nyewood  (or  New 
Wood)  fields,  to  her  relation,  the  Earl  of  Tankerville, 

•  It  is  impossible  now  to  say  what  all  these  farms  were  let  for,  but  the  rent 
produced  by  agricultural  land  in  the  eighteenth  century  was,  until  the  long 
war  with  France,  very  small  indeed.  One  of  them,  "  Woodhouse  Farm,"  at 
Harting,  was  let  for  £34  at  this  time.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  only 
farm  which  became  Gilbert  White's  property,  the  others  being  sold  to  pay 
the  younger  children's  portions. 


106  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1759 

whose  estate  of  Up  Park  it  seems  to  have  joined. 
The  Trustees  of  the  settlement  seem  to  have  bought 
another  property  with  the  purchase  money.  This 
Mrs.  John  White  dealt  with  by  her  will,  as  to  which 
Gilbert  White  consulted  one  "  Counsellor  Wright," 
who  wrote  from  Oxford  on  March  12th,  1759  : — 

"If  you  allow  of  the  will,  and  pay  the  money  charged 
on  the  estate  there  will  be  no  occasion  to  prove  it  anywhere. 
When  you  pay  the  money  it  will  be  proper  to  take  a  con- 
veyance of  the  estate  from  the  heir  of  the  surviving  Trustee, 
and  the  younger  children  must  join  in  it,  and  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  the  money  given  to  them  respectively  by  your 
mother's  will." 

The  four  remaining  properties  were  strictly  entailed 
upon  the  eldest  son  of  the  marriage,  subject,  how- 
ever, to  a  charge  of  £1,500  if  there  should  be  only 
one  or  two  children,  and  of  £2,000  if  (as  was,  of 
course,  the  case)  three  or  more  younger  children,  for 
their  portions.  Power  was  reserved  to  the  husband 
and  wife  to  revoke  the  trusts  of,  and  resettle  by  deed 
the  Hawkley  and  Eogate  lands  (properties  Nos.  1 
and  5).  This  power  they  exercised  in  1730,  when 
these  properties  were  resettled  by  them  on  their 
younger  children. 

Under  the  wills  of  his  grandmothers,  Mrs.  White 
and  Mrs.  Holt,  Gilbert  White  received  no  benefit 
whatever. 

The  reader  is  now  generally  in  a  position  to 
understand    how   utterly   different    Gilbert   White's 


1759 


HIS   CONDUCT  DEFENDED  107 


real  pecuniary  position  was  from  that  which  it  was, 
perhaps  not  unnaturally,  originally  supposed  to  be 
by  the  Provost  of  Oriel ;  and  incidentally  he  may 
have  learned  the  danger  of  formulating  a  serious 
charge  against  the  reputation  of  an  estimable  man, 
upon  the  slender  evidence  of  one  (confessedly  unin- 
formed) entry  of  a  long  bygone  date. 

If  any  further  proof  were  needed  that  Gilbert 
White  was  really  and  truly  not  in  possession  of  the 
amount  of  wealth  considered  by  the  statutes  to  be 
incompatible  with  the  retention  of  a  Fellowship,''^  it 
can  be  surely  found  in  his  manner  of  life  at  Selborne ; 
where  his  establishment  consisted  during  all  his  life 
of  one  maidservant  and  one  man,  who  was  gardener, 
groom,  and  footman,  with  the  occasional  addition  of 
a  labourer  or  of  a  '*  weeding  woman  "  in  the  garden, 
and  of  a  temporary  maidservant,  when  visitors,  who 
brought  no  maid  with  them,  were  entertained — an 
establishment  which,  though  it  satisfied  the  modest 
needs  of  its  master,  can  hardly  be  considered  that  of 
a  ''rich"  man  residing  on  his  "patrimonial  estate." 

Perhaps,  however,  the  word  "pluralist"  would 
have  most  astonished  the  Naturalist's  friends  and 
contemporaries  (and  in  criticising  a  person's  conduct 
it  is  only  fair  to  have  regard  to  the  ethics  of  the 
age  he  lived  in).     What,  for  instance,  would  have 


*  The  provisions  of  the  Oriel  College  statutes  are  given  further  on ;  when, 
in  1780,  the  pecuniary  position  of  Gilbert  White  having  become  somewhat 
improved,  it  seemed  necessary  to  again  revert  to  the  matter. 


108  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1759 

been  thought  of  this  epithet,  as  applied  to  Gilbert 
White,  by  his  friend  John  Mulso ;  who,  when  he  had 
obtained  a  living  and  a  major  and  minor  canonry 
from  his  uncle,  the  Bishop,  regretfully  wrote  to  his 
old  friend  that  he  could  plainly  see  the  Bishop 
thought  his  cup  was  now  full?'* 

Mulso  expressed  his  opinion  of  his  friend's  clerical 
modesty  when  he  told  him,  after  one  of  the  numerous 
refusals  of  a  comfortable  college  living,  that  he 
would  go  down  to  history  as  the  man  who  ''refused 
livings  and  served  curacies."  Nor  can  Gilbert  White 
be  fairly  called  a  "sinecure"  clergyman;  since,  though 
he  paid  a  deputy  to  do  his  work  in  his  little  cure 
of  Moreton  Pinkney,  he  continued  during  his  whole 
life  after  ordination  in  the  exercise  of  clerical  duty. 
It  is  true  the  work  of  a  country  clergyman  was  not 
then,  nor  is  it  now,  of  a  wholly  engrossing  character ; 
but  such  as  the  duties  were,  he  regularly  and  punc- 
tually fulfilled  them,  never  receiving  more  than  the 
very  modest  stipend  of  a  curate,  in  addition  to  the 
slender  income  which  remained  after  he  had  paid 
his  deputy  in  his  little  college  living  of  Moreton 
Pinkney. 

Meanwhile  the  brothers  at  Selborne  continued 
their  improvements.  On  February  4th,  1759,  Mulso 
writes : — 

"  In  what  manner  to  answer  your  last  I  am  at  a  loss.  We 
have  no  towering  Hills,  no  elegant  nests  to  copy  such  as  I 

•  It  held  another  preferment,  however,  shortly  afterwards. 


1759  ALTERATIONS   AT   SELBORNE  109 

found  enclosed  in  yours.  Neither  am  I  painter  enough 
to  give  you  so  just  an  idea  of  them,  as  you  I  believe  have 
conveyed  to  me  of  your  Hermitage,  by  the  handsome  per- 
formance of  Miss  Culverton.  But  indeed  you  have  shown 
a  right  picturesque  imagination  in  the  choice  of  the  motto,* 
in  which  without  the  scratch  under  the  last  words  I  could 
have  found,  not  only  your  poetical  Fancy,  but  your  filial 
Piety." 

And  on  March  23rd,  1759 — 

"Every  fine  day  makes  us  think  of  your  alterations  and 
the  beauties  of  Selborne.  Mrs.  Mulso  longs  to  see  the 
Hermitage,  the  opus  operatum  of  Harry." 

The  Garden  Kalendar  records  : — 

"March  31^*  Finished  a  bastion,  and  Ha  ha  fenced  with 
sharpened  piles,  in  the  vista  from  Baker's  Hill  to  the 
great  mead:  and  a  conical  mount t  about  six-feet  diameter 
at  top,  and  five  high,  at  the  bottom  of  the  great  mead. 
Mount  about  eight  days'  work.  Ha  ha  about  sixteen." 

In  April  Gilbert  White  paid  his  usual  Easter 
visit  to  Oxford,  the  second  since  the  year  (1759) 
began,  having  gone  thither  for  about  ten  days 
at  the  beginning  of  January,  no  doubt  to  see  the 
Provost  upon  the  business  now  settled. 

♦  Inscribed  over  the  door  of  the  Hermitage  were  the  lines  from  Milton's 
*  II  Penseroso ' : — 

"  May  at  last  my  weary  age 
Find  out  the  peaceful  Hermitage, 
The  hairy  gown  and  mossy  cell. 
Where  I  may  sit  and  rightly  spell 
Of  every  star  that  heaven  doth  shew, 
And  every  herb  that  sips  the  dew  ; 
Till  old  experience  do  attain 
To  something  like  prophetic  strain." 

t  Later  this  mount  received  the  addition  of  a  '*  Winepipe  "  set  upon  it. 


no  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1759 

On  his  return  his  friend   Mulso  writes   on  May 

7th,   1759:— 

"  I  am  pleased  that  you  have  got  back  from  Oxford  with 
a  mind  impregnated  with  Poetry,  as  in  former  days,  and  not 
troubled  with  Party  and  Contention.  You  brought  back 
our  old  happy  Feels  over  Milton,  by  those  few  words  *  Now 
my  task  is  smoothly  done,'  and  I  congratulate  that  placidity 
and  academic  turn  of  your  mind." 

During  this  spring  the  following  letter  was  re- 
ceived by  Gilbert  White  from  his  brother  John, 
who  had  by  this  time  been  resident  at  Gibraltar 
about  three  years,  as  a  military  chaplain.  It  should 
be  mentioned  that  John  White's  earlier  career  had 
been  a  subject  of  considerable  anxiety  to  his  family, 
both  while  at  Oxford,  and  subsequently.  Gilbert 
White  had  once  visited  Oxford  on  his  affairs,  and 
seems   to   have   always   acted   the   part   of  a   kind 

brother. 

Gibraltar,  Jan.  10,  1759. 

Dear  Brother, — ^Your  kind  letter  dated  Oct.  26  was  dated 
again  on  the  Cover  by  my  B^[other]  B[enjamin]  Nov.  17,  & 
came  to  my  hands,  by  the  Cadiz  Mail  Dec.  13*^  I  had  been 
struck  about  a  month  before  by  the  melancholy  news  of 
our  dear  and  honoured  Father's  Death  in  the  publick  papers, 
as  I  was  casting  my  eye  over  them  in  a  Coffee  House. 
I  yet  entertained  some  hopes  that  it  might  possibly  be 
a  groundless  report,  till  I  saw  it  afresh  confirmed  the 
next  post  in  the  Westm"^  Journal.  My  grief  &  concern 
at  this  sad  event  was  much  increased  by  the  long  silence 
of  all  my  relations  in  England;  for  the  last  letter  I  had 
been  favoured  with  bears  date  Dec.  8,  1756,  from  B'^  B, 
and  the  only  ones  I  had  ever  received  before  were,  one 


1759 


LETTEE  FKOM   GIBEALTAE  111 


from  my  good  Father,  dated  Oct.  16,  1756,  &  one  from 
sister  Eeb.  &  B""  Harry  written  about  the  same  time. 
You  will  judge  how  any  man  must  be  affected  to  have 
so  long  &  painful  a  suspense  broken  by  so  afflicting  news. 
The  favourable  circumstances  which  you  say  attended  the 
departure  of  so  valuable  and  excellent  a  parent  ought 
however  to  afford  every  serious  survivor  no  small  con- 
solation. Such  a  calm  &  unterrified  resignation  of  his 
soul  into  the  Hands  of  his  merciful  Creator  must  be  looked 
upon  as  a  blessed  forerunner  of  the  fullness  of  joy. 

God  forbid  I  should  think  of  taking  amiss  the  affectionate 
manner  in  which  you  express  yourself  relating  to  the  per- 
plext  &  uncreditable  situation  of  my  affairs  at  my  departure 
from  England.  It  is  what  has  given  me  inexpressible 
anxiety  &  discontent.  An  imprudent  and  uncautious  pro- 
cedure at  my  first  stepping  into  the  world  embarassed  me 
not  a  little,  &  gradually  involved  me  in  unthought  of  dis- 
tresses, the  particulars  of  which  I  am  sorry  to  conceal  from 
you  &  ashamed  to  declare  them.  In  regard  to  my  expecta- 
tions from  the  decease  of  my  Father  I  cannot  but  rest  in 
perfect  satisfaction  at  the  execution  of  his  Will's  being  left 
in  so  unexceptionable  hands.  As  soon  as  time  will  allow 
I  must  beg  the  favour  of  some  farther  information  of  the 
state  of  our  affairs.  For  I  very  sincerely  approve  of  your 
advice  for  the  speedy  discharge  of  my  Debts,  especially 
those  for  money  borrowed.  I  do  not  clearly  understand  yet, 
how  &  to  what  extent  the  expenses  of  my  education  are  to 
be  estimated,  but  would  be  thankful  for  some  intelligence 
on  this  Head.  If  the  whole  course  of  my  maintenance  & 
education  is  to  be  included,  I  fear  the  Ballance  of  my  Acc^ 
will  fall  deplorably  short,  according  to  the  conclusions  to  be 
made  from  your  letter.  But  if  it  please  God  that  matters 
turn  out  tolerably  favourable,  &  you  shall  find  yourself 
enabled  to  answer  the  under-mentioned  Demands  on  my 
Acc\  it  will  be  an  unspeakable  relief   to  my  Conscience, 


112  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1759 

and  I  hope  some  recovery  of  my  reputation.  Be  assured 
Dear  B"^  that  nothing  but  distress  extremely  pressing  (I  will 
say  nothing  at  present  of  its  cause)  could  have  compelled 
me  to  trespass  in  the  manner  I  have  done  on  the  friendliness 
&  patience  of  these  good  people;  and  the  loss  of  their 
esteem  gives  me  perpetual  uneasiness.  An  expectation  of 
relief  from  my  Father  flattered  me  with  a  view  of  requiting 
these  obligations  soon,  till  he  affectionately  informed  me  how 
little  it  was  in  his  power.  My  only  income  then  of  £40  p' 
ann.  would  contribute  nothing  thereto  &  I  chose  rather  to 
suffer  in  their  good- will,  &  good  opinion  for  what  was  already 
past,  than  to  amuse  them  with  idle  &  useless  promises  & 
protestations.  ...  I  likewise  acknowledge  myself  indebted 
in  the  sum  of  £10  10  0  to  M"^  Bristowe,  but  as  he  thought 
proper,  not  only  to  furnish  me  with  the  s^  sum  in  bad  & 
diminished  Coin,  but  also  to  threaten  me  with  his  Attorney 
in  a  very  peremptory  &  insulting  manner,  he  must  give  me 
leave  to  postpone  settling  matters  with  him,  till  providence 
has  enabled  me  to  do  it  with  others.  I  am  considerably  in- 
debted to  M""  Henry  &  M'^  E^  Woods,  &  would  be  glad  they 
would  transmit  to  me  an  ace*  of  their  claims.  I  know  it  is 
expected  that  I  must  needs  save  money  out  of  my  present 
income  in  Gibralter.  I  allow  the  necessity  of  it,  tho'  I  may 
not  yet  have  quite  answered  the  expectations  of  my  friends. 
For  I  find  that  to  a  person  accustomed  to  too  much  remiss- 
ness of  accounts  in  his  expenses,  it  is  no  easy  lesson  to  learn 
frugality  &  economy.  However,  I  can  assure  you  that  since 
my  arrival  here,  I  have  by  no  means  lived  up  to  my  Income, 
which  I  look  upon  as  no  inconsiderable  point  gained,  but  am 
somewhat  beforehand,  &  hope  by  God's  Blessing  &  a  continu- 
ance of  my  present  favourable  situation  to  extricate  myself 
from  these  Calamities  &  to  evidence  the  honesty  &  integrity 
of  my  intentions.  ...  I  find  my  mechanical  Talents  of  in- 
finite use  in  this  place.  I  have  made  my  apartments,  with 
my  own  hands,  extraordinary  commodious.     I  see  by  your 


1759  LETTEE  FEOM  GIBRALTAR  113 

letter  that  my  long  story  about  Gib**  came  to  my  poor 
Father's  hands.  Since  I  wrote  that,  I  am  removed  to  the 
most  northern  part  of  the  Town — near  the  Grand  Battery, 
where  I  have  a  room  of  a  large  store-house,  24  f*  by  28. 
This  I  have  divided  into  Dining-room,  Bed-room,  &  study,  & 
have  plenty  of  cellar  room,  etc.,  in  a  large  stair-case.  My 
prospect  from  my  windows  is  rather  more  elegant  than  the 
other  was.  I  was  much  pleased  with  your  description  of 
the  Hermitage,  &  hope  some  time  or  other  to  view  that 
delightful  spot  once  more.  I  beg  to  hear  if  you  intend  to 
continue  the  occupier  of  those  beautiful  environs  of  my 
Father's  house ;  or  if  the  sweet  shades  &  solitudes  of  Baker's 
Hill,  etc.,  are  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  merciless  Hands  of  the 
Farmer  &  Hedger.  I  flatter  myself  I  could  make  some 
pleasing  additions  to  your  late  Improvements  in  the  forti- 
fication-way. We,  who  maintain  ourselves  here  by  Violence 
and  Defiance,  breathe  nothing  but  War  and  Hostilities.  But 
I  fear  things  of  this  sort  may  look  a  little  preposterous  in 
the  peaceful  plains  of  Selborn  &  Newton ;  tho'  the  Militia 
Bill  may  perhaps  somewhat  reconcile  them. 

The  end  of  this  letter  is  missing. 

On  June  8th,  1759,  Mulso  wrote  : — 

"I  have  been  looking  over  Buncombe's  Translation  of 
Horace;  he  has  been  so  kind  as  to  give  us  most  of  the 
Satires  and  Epistles  in  blank  Lines,  for  I  will  not  call  them 
Verse.  I  cannot  but  say  that  you  did  Him  great  Injustice, 
but  yourself  great  Justice,  in  not  letting  me  insert  your 
Imitations  amongst  them.  They  would  have  been  amongst 
the  things  that,  if  he  knows  himself,  he  desperat  tractata 
nitescere  posse,  and  so  leaves  them  to  halt  in  Blank,  but  they 
would  have  ornamented  the  Book.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Mulso  is  not 
angry  at  your  applying  to  her  what  was  designed  for  a 
Horse,  for  she  knows  that  it  is  your  favourite  animal.'* 

VOL.  I. — I 


114  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1759 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  (1759)  Harry  White 
was  presented  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  the  living 
of  Tidworth,  near  Marlborough,  Wilts;  and  on 
December  6th,  1759,  John  Mulso  was  able  to  apprise 
his  friend  of  his  imminent  removal  to  the  valuable 
incumbency  of  Thornhill,  near  Wakefield.  After 
referring  to  the  drawback  of  distance  from  friends, 
etc.,  he  proceeds — 

"  But  you  my  dear  Gil,  who  are  an  economist  will  give  an 
immediate  loose  to  joy  for  me  on  this  occasion;  and  will 
you  never  see  Yorkshire  when  you  have  so  true  a  friend 
there?  I  will  send  you  my  best  Hunter  (for  I  shall  be 
a  jolly  Dog;)  or  take  any  other  method  of  conveying  to 
me  a  Friend  the  thoughts  of  whom  seem  to  aggravate  the 
distance." 

On  December  21st,  1759,  he  inquires  of  his 
friend — 

"  You  are  an  Inquisitive  man,  and  fall  into  the  company 
of  many  people ;  let  me  know  therefore  which  is  my  road  to 
this  same  Thornhill?  .  .  .  We  have  great  faith  in  your 
Topography,  as  if  in  fact  you  had  been  everywhere.  ...  I 
did  not  think  that  you  would  have  increased  my  damp  at 
the  thought  of  going  so  far,  by  supposing  that  we  should  be 
more  separated  than  ever.  What  are  a  few  miles  more  to 
you  on  a  cheap  Eoad  ?  Lyndon  must  be  half  way  or  more, 
and  a  horse  can  go  anywhere.  It  is  impossible,  but  that  your 
very  curiosity  must  bring  you  to  see  us.  What !  the  brave 
Mercians,  and  the  Castella  Brigantum  left  unseen  by  a  man 
who  will  send  miles  for  a  huge  stone  or  a  knarly  root  of  a 
tree  ?  Nothing  but  death  or  marriage  will  make  me  believe 
it.  .  .  ." 


1759  VISITS  LONDON  AND  LYNDON  115 

Though  neither  of  these  events  was  the  obstacle, 
nevertheless  his  friend  never  saw  Yorkshire.  On 
October  17th,  1759,  he  received  the  last  payment 
"  in  full "  from  Mr.  Etty  for  serving  Selborne  cure ; 
and  in  November  he  set  out  for  his  brother-in-law's 
house  at  Lyndon,  via  London.  Mr.  Barker  shared 
with  his  brother-in-law  a  distinct  taste  for  the  obser- 
vation and  record  of  facts  in  natural  history.  A 
MS.  diary  of  his — now,  through  the  kindness  of  a 
cousin,  the  property  of  the  present  writer — contains, 
l)esides  observations  in  astronomy,  notes  on  the 
measurements  of  trees  (including  the  great  yew 
tree  in  Selborne  Churchyard),  a  record  of  the  first 
appearance  and  disappearance  of  migratory  birds, 
and  the  breaking  into  leaf  and  flowering  of  trees  at 
Lyndon  for  the  series  of  years  1736-1801.  This 
diary  is  mentioned  in  the  original  letter  to  Pennant 
of  August  17th,  1768  (Letter  XIX.),  from  Gilbert 
White  :— 

"  Now  I  present  you  with  a  paper  of  remarks  from  Thomas 
liarker  Esq*"  of  Lyndon  Hall  in  Eutland,  a  gent :  who 
married  one  of  my  Sisters.  In  it  you  will  find,  I  think, 
a  curious  register,  kept  by  himself  for  32  years,  relative  to 
the  coming  and  departure  of  birds  of  passage.  If  you  find 
anything  in  it,  or  among  y®  rest  of  the  observations  worthy 
y""  notice,  you  are  wellcome,  he  says,  to  make  what  use  you 
please  of  any  of  them." 

After  leaving  Eutland,  Gilbert  White  returned 
to  London  to  stay  there  with  his  brother  Thomas. 
Eeturning    to    Selborne,    he    records    the    fact    on 


116  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  ma 

May  17th,  1760,  in  the  Garden  Kalendar,  "  aftei  1 
six  months'  absence  in  Lyndon  and  London,"  the  , 
only  long  holiday  of  his  clerical  life,  and  the  last  \ 
considerable  absence  from  Selborne.  Meanwhile  \m  '■ 
friend  at  Thornhill  wrote  on  March  2nd,  1760  : — 

"  You  are  impatient  to  have  me  say  something  of  Thorn - 
hill :  but  I  shall  say  nothing  at  present,  that  I  may  leave  the 
greater  impetus  to  come  to  us.  Only  that  here  are  such 
great  capacities  for  improvement,  that  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  you  should  come  hither.  .  .  .  The  roads  are 
worse  than  yours  for  a  carriage.  We  have  some  scenes 
almost  Selbournian,  but  not  your  turf  or  soft  Woods  or 
wild  Hangers." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Probably  Gilbert  White  was  by  this  time  beginning 
n  realise  that  Selborne  would  always  be  his  resi- 
lence,  since  the  Garden  Kalendar  records  in  June, 
1760,  that  he  "agreed  with  John  Wells  to  purchase 
the  upper  part  of  Lassam's  orchard,"  which  was 
added  to  the  premises  of  "The  Wakes."  A  little 
later  he  writes  : — 

'  TuU  and  John  *  are  busy  every  day  in  grubbing,  paring, 
and  burning  the  new  purchased  garden." 

On  August  11th,  1760,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"If  you  have  the  same  course  of  weather  we  have  here, 
you  have  not  yet  dined  in  The  Hermitage.  The  image  of 
that  place,  and  the  pleasures  we  enjoyed  from  the  circle  that 
belonged  to  it,  are  so  strong  in  our  minds  that  we  feel  your 
disappointment  as  if  the  case  was  our  own.  I  look  up  to  the 
picture  of  it  (it  hangs  over  my  study  door)  and  fill  myself 
with  many  a  friendly  thought.  I  enjoy  your  new  purchase 
extremely ;  I  see  the  alteration,  I  could  draw  it  now,  but  I 

*  Robin  Tull  was  occasionally  employed  in  the  garden.  An  entry  of 
"John's  livery"  in  1760  shows  that  John  (?Lassani)  was  now  the  regular 
manservant. 

117 


118  GILBERT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  mi 

want  paint  for  the  deep  verdure  of  the  /SaOvKoXTrog  meadow ; 
and  I  remember  the  old  Trees,  that  would  embarrass  the 
expressions  of  our  Garrick." 

The  letter  concludes  with  congratulations  to  Mr. 

Etty,    "  and   to   yourself  on   a   new   neighbour " — 

presumably  Mrs.  Etty. 

Later,  on  November  3rd,  1760,  he  writes : — 
"  I  enjoyed  your  '  Day  at  The  Hermitage '  very  much." 

On  January  13th,  1761,  Mulso  apprises  his  friend 
that — 

"The  long  expected  union  of  my  brother  and  sister 
Mulso,*  and  of  my  brother  and  sister  Chapone,f  has  at 
length  taken  place.  To  these  brides  and  bridegrooms  I 
know  you  will  give  your  good  wishes,  that,  as  they  have  long 
wished  for  this  happy  state  (I  don't  know  whether  I  speak  to 
be  understood  by  you  who  continue  an  old  Batchelor)  they 
may  long  continue  happy  in  it." 

He  goes  on  to  say — 

"I  am  glad  your  Oxford  journey  ended  so  much  better 
than  it  began,  and  that  the  Provost  and  you  begin  to  have 
your  old  Feels  for  one  another,  such  as  you  had  before 
Competitions  divided  you.  I  hope  to  find  in  the  long  run, 
that  with  the  help  of  the  public  coalition  of  Parties,  and 
his  own  interest  D^  Musgrave  will  prove  a  very  serviceable 
Head  of  that  House,  and,  as  I  know  you  have  the  good  of 
the  Foundation  at  heart,  it  will  make  you  forget  what  was 
once  disagreeable  in  his  election." 

It  will  have  been  amply  apparent  that  Miss 
Mulso' s  marriage  was  not  an  event  likely  to  occasion 

*  Thomas  Mulso  and  Miss  Prescott.  f  N^e  Miss  Hester  Mulso. 


1761  IMPEO YEMENIS  AT  SELBOENE  119 

other  feelings  in  Gilbert  White  than  those  of  friendly 
interest ;  but  whatever  his  feelings  may  have  been, 
his  interest  in  his  garden  did  not  abate. 

The  following  entry  in  the  Garden  Kalendar 
refers  to  an  improvement  which  remains  to  the 
present  time : — 

"Jan.  24  [1761].  Long  the  mason  finished  the  dry  wall  of 
the  Ha-ha  in  the  new  garden  which  is  built  of  blue  rags,  so 
massy  that  it  is  supposed  to  contain  double  the  quantity  of 
stone  usual  in  such  walls.  Several  stones  reach  into  the 
bank  20  inches.  The  wall  was  intended  to  be  4  ft.  and  an 
half  high.  But  the  labourers  in  sinking  the  ditch  on  in- 
clining ground  mistook  the  level,  especially  about  the  angle, 
so  that  at  that  part  to  bring  it  to  a  level  it  is  5  ft.  8  inch 
high,  and  4  ft.  6  inch  at  the  ends,  an  excellent  fence  against 
the  mead,  and  so  well  fastened  into  the  clay  bank  that  it 
looks  likely  to  last  a  long  while." 

"Feb.  5.  Levelled  the  Terrass  and  new  walks  so  far  that 
they  will  want  but  very  small  amendments  before  they  are 
turfed." 

An  entry  taken  from  his  account-book  at  this  time 

refutes  the  supposition  that  Gilbert  White  was  living 

as  a  rich  man  at  Selborne. 

£     s.     d. 
"Eeb.  18  [1761]  Paid  sisters's  housekeeping 

from  July  2  to  Feb.  19  .        .     .  20     02     04 

[At  this  time  he  paid  for  a  year's  rent  of  his 

house  and  orchard]     .  .        .     .  05     07     00." 

A  little  later  a  further  piece  of  ground  was  bought. 
Mulso,  referring  to  this  on  April  20th,  1761,  con- 
gratulates his  friend  on  "  having  got  the  angulus  iste. 


I 


120  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBOKNE  mi 

I  observe  you  are  not  for  us  this  spring.  There  is  a 
wall  between  us,  but  no  gulf,  indeed  we  long  for  the 
sight  of  you." 

In  April  he  paid  "Fine  Copy  and  Fees  for  the  new 
garden"  to  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  the  owner 
of  the  manor  of  Selborne. 

In  May,  1761,  the  Garden  Kalendar  contains  a 
long  entry,  commencing — 

"  May  20 — My  brother  Tho  and  I  went  down  with  a  spade 
to  examine  into  the  nature  of  those  animals  that  make  that 
chearful  shrill  cry  all  the  summer  months  in  many  parts 
of  the  south  of  England." 

This  entry,  subsequently  re-written,  became  the 
forty  -  sixth  letter  to  Barrington.  The  Garden 
Kalendar  continues — 

"  June  21 — Discovered  a  curious  orchis  in  the  hollow 
shady  part  of  Newton-lane,  just  beyond  the  Cross.  It  is 
the  orchis  alba  hifolia  minor  calcari  oUongo;  grew  with  a  very 
long  stem,  and  has  been  in  flower  some  weeks.  I  brought 
away  the  flower,  and  marked  the  root,  intending  to  trans- 
plant it  into  the  garden,  when  the  leaves  are  withered." 

Later  there  is  mention  of  another  improvement 
which  remains,  in  part  at  least,  to  this  day  in  the 
garden  of  The  Wakes. 

"  July  25.  Finished  my  fruit  wall,  coping  the  two  returns 
at  the  end  with  stones  of  a  sandy  nature  out  of  the  old 
Priory.  The  coping  bricks  were  full  of  flaws  and  cracks, 
being  made  of  earth  not  well  prepared,  and  instead  of  over- 
hanging the  wall,  came  but  just  flush  with  it :  however,  by 
using  six  that  were  broken-ended,  we  had  just  enough,  and 
they  may  lie  on  the  wall  many  years." 


1761  EEBECCA  WHITE  MAKRIES  121 

In  November  was  purchased  '*a  large  Portland 
dial-post  and  slab  from  Andover,"  and  "  a  brass  dial 
plate  "  for  a  sundial. 

On  September  7tli,   1761,  Mulso  writes  from  his 

Yorkshire  living,  adjuring  his  friend  to  write  more 

frequently — 

"By  Hercules*  and  by  the  Dragon  on  the  Cynic  Tub,  I  swear, 
I  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  upon  Selbournian  Ground.  .  .  . 
I  desire  that  you  would  make  a  better  use  of  this  winter 
than  you  did  of  the  last.  How  can  Mice  [Miss  White] 
and  you  sit  one  on  one  side  and  t'other  on  the  other  side 
of  the  fire,  when  you  ought  to  be  both  at  the  great  table 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  she  writing  to  her  lover,  and  you 
to  your  friend  ?  I  mean  after  your  Journal  book  is  filled  for 
the  day,  for  I  do  not  expect  to  be  served  first." 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  Mrs.  Chapone  lost  her 
husband,  after  a  short  married  life  of  ten  months. 
On  October  29th,  1761,  Mulso  communicated  his 
.sister's  **  irreparable  loss "  to  his  friend,  and  con- 
tinued— 

"Your  employment  has  of  late  been  of  a  more  cheerful 
nature;  the  entertainment  of  your  friends,  in  which  you 
shine;  and  in  the  disposal  of  your  sister.  .  .  .  Her  temper 
and  conduct  must,  I  am  sure,  very  much  endear  her  to  the 
man  whom  she  has  honoured  with  her  Choice.  But  what 
will  you  do  for  a  housekeeper  ?  or  have  you  looked  till  you 
have  found  one  who  will  more  than  supply  her  place  ?  .  .  . 
I  long  to  see  your  alterations  and  improvements  at  Selborne, 
tho'  I  have  a  pretty  strong  idea  of  them.  ...  I  thank  you 

*  In  1758  a  "Board-statue  of  Hercules"  appears  in  his  account-book. 
Cf.  "  The  Invitation  "— 

"Or  with  the  mimic  statue  trap  the  sight." 


122  GILBEET  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  mi 

for  recording  our  friendship  with  so  much  warmth.  It  is,  in 
my  esteem,  one  of  those  blessings  of  God,  which  partake 
of  his  nature,  and  are  therefore  inestimable." 

On  November  17th,  1761,  Miss  Rebecca  White 
married  her  cousin,  Mr.  Henry  Woods,  whose  father 
resided  at  Chilgrove,  near  Chichester,  and  went  to  live 
in  London ;  leaving  her  brother,  the  last  of  the  once 
numerous  family,  at  Selborne.  Apparently  he 
solaced  himself  with  continued  improvements  in  his 
garden.  On  December  30th  he  records  in  the 
Garden  Kalendar — 

"  By  the  negligence  of  Murdoch  Middleton  my  wall-trees 
never  came  till  the  26th.  They  are  in  general  good  trees, 
and  were  planted,  (considering  the  wetness  of  the  season,)  in 
good  condition ;  and  in  the  following  order,  beginning  from 
the  terrass. 

"  Breda  apricot :  Sweetwater  vine :  Eoman  nectar :  Mr. 
Snooke's  black- cluster  vine :  Eoman  Nect.  white  Muscadine 
vine :  Mrs.  Sn.  Newington  nectar :  Mur :  Middleton's  Sweet- 
water vine :  Nobless-peach :  Mr,  Sn.  white  Muscadine  vine : 
Nobless-peach :  John  Hale's  two  Passion  flowers,  one  at  each 
end  of  the  wall. 

"Planted  two  Cistus's  in  Mr.  Etty's  dry  garden;  and 
a  Phlomis,  and  an  Halimus  in  my  own." 

In  December,  1761,  a  journey  was  made  to  the 
vicarage  of  Moreton  Pinkney.  Keferring  to  this, 
Mulso  writes  on  February  5th,  1762  : — 

"  We  wish  you  joy  of  your  sister's  wedding,  tho'  it  is  now 
almost  an  old  history;  as  I  remember  I  did  before  it  was 
solemnised.  But  what  a  Hussar  Parson  do  you  still  continue 
to  be  ?  and  how  did  you  giddy  me  and  hurry  me  along  with 
your  account  of  your  Journey,  as  bad  as  Tristram  Shandy's 


1762  CUKATE  OF  FARINGDON  123 

Calculation  of  the  Quantum  of  Genius  thro'  all  the  northern 
nations.  It  is  well  for  me  that  you  are  set  down  quiet 
at  Selborne,  where  I  suppose  the  coming  of  the  Spring  will 
confine  you  till  you  have  set  everything  in  order  for  its 
summer  Perfection.  As  soon  as  that  is  done,  I  think  I 
hardly  know  you,  if  you  do  not  set  out  on  a  Ramble." 

Since  Michaelmas,  1761,  Gilbert  White  .had  been 
curate  to  Mr.  Koman,  who  had  succeeded  Dr.  Hales 
as  rector  (non-resident)  of  the  adjoining  parish  of 
Faringdon  ;  a  curacy  which  he  held  for  five-and- 
twenty  years,  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Etty,  and  the 
non -residence  of  his  successor,  gave  him  the  oppor- 
tunity of  becoming  for  the  third  time  curate  of  his 
native  village. 

In  March,  1762,  the  Garden  Kalendar  contains  a 
careful  entry  of  the  order  in  which  some  new  pear 
trees  were  planted  in  the  **new  garden."  The  names 
may  now  be  of  some  little  interest.  They  are : 
' '  Chaumontelle," '  *  Virgoleuse, "  * '  Crasane, "  "  Doyenne. ' ' 
"St.  Germain,"  "Brown  Bury,"  '* Autumn  Burgamot," 
and  "Swan's  Egg."  A  "Le  Royal"  and  a  *' Queen 
Claudia  "  plum  (greengage)  were  also  planted.  April, 
1762,  saw  Gilbert  White  set  out  for  Tidworth,  which 
Harry  White  was  just  about  to  leave,  since  he  had 
been  presented  to  the  (Chancellor  s)  living  of  Fyfield, 
near  Andover. 

Mulso  writes  on  April  18th,  1762  : — 

"I  hope  my  brother  Eector  of  Fifield  will  change  his 
for  a  better  under  the  Patronage  of  my  Lord  Chancellor; 
in  the  meantime  I  sincerely  wish  him  joy  of  the  present 


124  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF  SELBORNE  1762 

Preferment.  How  agreeable  do  you  men  of  Taste  make 
every  Place  you  come  at !  Your  description  of  Tidworth 
made  me  think  of  your  prints  of  the  antediluvian  ages ; 
and  they  conveyed  simple  and  rural  images,  which  amuse 
and  deceive  the  fancy ;  but  yet  Tidworth  may  be  exceeded, 
and  perhaps  none  since  Adam  have  seen  so  fine  a  scene 
as  Mr.  Morris's  Gardens.  ...  I  like  your  verses  extremely, 
the  thought  is  happy,  and  the  execution  entirely  in  the  vein 
of  Ovid.  The  fourth  line  I  have  some  objections  to. ...  I  am 
pleased  to  catch  you  versifying.     You  will  never  be  old  " — 

a  true  enough  remark ;  few  men  retain  to  their 
old  age  such  a  fresh  and  healthy  enjoyment  of  life 
as  did  the  person  addressed. 

The  summer  of  1762  passed  away,  and  though 
he  had  received  frequent  and  pressing  invitations 
to  visit  his  old  friends  in  Yorkshire,  the  Naturalist 
was  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  leave  home  and 
his  curacy  for  any  long  period.  Moreover,  his  uncle 
at  Bradley,  the  Eev.  Charles  Whit^,  was  at  this 
time  in  greatly  failing  health,  and  this  kept  the 
nephew  near  him.  Meanwhile  the  improvements 
and  alterations  in  the  garden  at  Selborne  continued. 
His  friend  writes  on  October  9th,  1762  : — 

"You  tell  me  of  an  alcove  at  the  end  of  your  Terrace. 
Which  is  your  Terrace  ?  for  you  had  no  walk  of  that 
denomination  when  I  saw  Selborne.  Is  it  the  north  side 
of  Baker's  Hill?"*  or  is  it  near  the  other  Bench,  where 
the  opening  and  new  Bastion  was,  facing  the  Cynic  Tub  ? 
Clear  me  up :  for  I  am  lost  in  the  grandeur  of  your  outlets, 
and  the  multiplicity  of  your  improvements." 

♦  Baker's  Hill  is  the  small  elevation  in  the  little  park  belonging  to  Tlie 
Wakes,  on  the  left  hand,  looking  towards  the  Hanger  from  the  house. 


1763  INHERITS  THE  WAKES  125 

In  November,  1762,  the  Garden  Kalendar  notes — 

"  Shut  up  the  alcove  with  straw  doors  for  y®  winter ;  and 
took  in  y®  urns." 

And  in  December — 

"Finished  a  paved  footpath  from  the  Butcher's  shop  to 
the  Blacksmith's.  ...  It  cost  just  one  pound." 

Early  in  March,  1763,  Mr.  Charles  White  died. 
He  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  Selborne  Church. 
It  appears  that  his  nephew  applied  to  Lord  Chan- 
cellor Henley — in  whose  private  patronage  the  rectory 
of  Bradley  lay — for  this  living,  but  met  with  a 
refusal.  Had  he  received  this  small  living  he  would 
not,  judging  from  a  remark  of  John  Mulso's,  have 
discontinued  residence  at  Selborne ;  especially  as  he 
now  succeeded  his  uncle  as  owner  of  the  house 
which  he  occupied,  and  also  received  from  him  some 
small  properties  in  and  near  Selborne. 

A  certain  importance  now  attaches  to  the  residence 
of  Gilbert  White  at  Selborne,  and  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  there  is  no  bequest  of  The  Wakes  in 
Charles  White's  will,  though  he  undoubtedly  owned 
and  received  rent  for  it,  according  to  his  nephew's 
account-book,  in  1762.  This  house  was  thus  be- 
queathed by  Gilbert  White,  Vicar  of  Selborne,  to 
his  daughter  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Charles  White),  **and 
her  heirs  for  ever  after  the  terme  which  I  have 
left  it  to  my  wife  for  I  give  likewise  my  copy- 
hold estate  in  Selborne  which  followeth  viz — my 
house  and  orchard  in  Selborne  Street  late  Wakes." 


126  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1763 

Why  Charles  White  omitted  to  bequeath  The 
Wakes  to  his  nephew  Gilbert  is  not  clear,  since 
he  left  him  "the  orchard  or  garden,  now  in  his 
[Gilbert  White's]  father's  possession,^  and  adjoining 
to  his  father's  house."  He  mentions,  however,  re- 
specting some  other  property  formerly  Mrs.  Charles 
White's,  ''supposing  that  the  said  Gilbert  White  will 
enjoy  [it]  after  my  death  as  heir  at  Law  to  his  aunt 
my  late  dear  wife." 

Mr.  Bell,  who  owned  the  property,  in  his  edition 
of  ''  The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Sel- 
borne,"  vol.  i.  p.  xxvii.,  states  positively  that 
Gilbert  White  "became  the  actual  possessor  of  the 
property  only  on  the  decease  of  his  uncle  Charles, 
the  Eector  of  Bradley,  in  1763.  The  deedt  is  thus 
endorsed  in  Gilbert's  handwriting — 

*  Copy  for  the  Wakes  my  Dwellinghouse,'  etc." 

Eeferring  to  the  refusal  of  the  living,  Mulso  com- 
ments thus  in  an  undated  letter,  apparently  written 
about  April,  1763,  upon  the  situation: — 

"  I  am  sorry  that  the  Patron  refused  you  what  you  asked 
for,  as  it  would  have  brought  your  matters  within  Compass, 
and  you  might  still  have  resided  at  your  beloved  Selbourne. . . . 
You  are  now  arrived  at  that  happiest  of  human  states,  Inde- 
pendence. For  though  you  may  be  glad  to  have  an  addition 
to  your  Fortune,  especially  in  lieu  of  your  Fellowship  if  you 
find  yourself  inclined  to  marry,  yet  as  you  have  all  in  your 

•  The  will  was  made  in  1763. 

t  Presumably  his  copy  of  the  admission  to  the  copyhold  tenure  of  the 
property  on  the  Manor  Rolls. 


1763 


APPLIES  FOE  A  LIVING  127 


own  power,  without  a  necessity  of  attending  and  soliciting 
anybody,  you  are  in  an  enviable  situation  by  the  greatest 
part  of  mankind.  By  the  last  paragraph  in  your  paper  we 
have  hopes  of  availing  ourselves  of  your  freedom  some  time 
this  year,  when  your  affairs  are  put  into  traia" 

Later,  on  July  28th,  1763,  Mulso  continues  upon 
the  matter  of  the  living.  Keferring  to  his  uncle,  the 
Bishop,  who  had  just  paid  him  a  visit  at  his  York- 
shire living,  Thornhill,  he  remarks — 

"Among  other  subjects  of  discourse,  you  was  one.  I 
showed  my  Lord  your  last  letter,  from  which  I  imagine 
that  you  did  not  purpose  any  other  good  and  present  effect 
should  arise,  than  a  general  disposition  to  serve  you  at  some 
future  happy  opportunity.  The  Bishop,  who  is  on  all  sides 
beset,  did  not  chuse  to  enter  into  any  sort  of  promise  of 
this  kind ;  but,  as  I  had  before  returned  him  my  particular 
thanks,  as   well   as  yours,  for  his   interposition   with   my 

Ld  C ,*  and  as  I  stood  for  you,  as  far  as  I  thought  would 

be  serviceable  to  you,  I  cannot  think  you  will  have  the 
worse  chance  with  him  for  this  visit. 

"  I  found  him  a  little  inclined  to  blame  you  for  not  having 

managed  your  cards  with  L^  C better.     But  tho'  he 

blamed  you  to  me,  he  defended  you  to  him.  As  I  could  not  but 
express  a  great  surprise  at  your  not  being  better  in  that 
Person's  good  graces,  (not  having  ever  suspected  it),  I  asked 
my  Lord  if  he  knew  the  cause :  he  said  very  well ;  it  was 
given  him  by  himself  the  first  time  he  spoke  to  Him  about 
you.    You  did  not  vote  for  the  Bishop  of  Durham  at  Oxford,  f 

*  Lord  Chancellor  Henley,  afterwards  Earl  of  Northington,  was  the  friend 
and  patron  of  Charles  White,  whom  his  family  had  presented  to  the  livings 
of  Swarraton  and  Bradley,  Hants,  which  were  in  their  private  patronage. 

t  There  was  a  contest  for  the  Chancellorship  of  the  University  of  Oxford 
on  May  4th,  1750,  between  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland  and  Richard  Trevor, 
Bishop  of  Durham,  who  had  been  a  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  The 
former  was  elected  by  321  to  200  votes. 


128  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1763 

My  uncle  being  better  informed  in  this  affair  before  the  next 
day  at  the  House,  went  up  to  him  and  told  him  that  you  did 
vote  for  him ;  to  which  he  answered  to  this  purpose, '  that  it 
was  in  so  lingering  cold  and  disobliging  a  manner,  that  he 
could  not  but  believe  you  disinclined  to  any  services  of  that 
nature.'  Now  what  my  uncle  thought  faulty,  was,  that  know- 
ing his  Pride  and  expectations,  you  did  not  enter  with  a  more 
sanguine  shew  into  his  intentions,  if  you  entered  into  them 
at  all.  I  answered  for  you,  that  you  had  taken  the  journey 
on  Purpose,  that  you  thought  voting  was  all  that  my  Lord 
wanted  from  you,  which  you  had  done :  and  that  if  you  did  not 
come  in  till  late,  he  who  was  an  Oxford  man,  could  not  but 
know  how  exceedingly  disagreeable  it  was  to  stand  the  Brunt 
of  a  majority  in  your  College  of  the  opposite  Party." 

In  short,  his  late  uncle's  living  was  lost  to  the 
applicant  because  he  was  not  quite  a  good  enough 
courtier. 

In  the  summer  of  1763  the  Garden  Kalendar 
notes  that — 

'*July  13  Mr.  Tho«  Mulso  &  Lady  &  Mr.  EdW^  Mulso  and 
Miss  Harriot  Baker  came  to  visit  me." 

These  were  not  the  only  visitors  at  Selborne  at 
this  time,  since  three  young  ladies,  the  Misses  Anna, 
Catharine,  and  Philadelphia  Battie,  the  handsome 
daughters  and  co-heiresses  of  Dr.  Battie,  a  very 
eminent  London  physician,"^  who  were  cousins  of 
Mrs.  Etty  {nee  Littleton),  were  at  this  time  spend- 
ing some  weeks  at  the  vicarage. 

•  Dr.  Battie  was  President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  of  London 
in  1764. 


Walter  iCocltEreapks 


^i^ImJib  ^i^ 


1763  A  LITTLE  JOUKNAL  129 

Writing  on  July  12th  John  Mulso  says  : — 

"  How  busy  will  you  be  when  this  reaches  you,  in  showing 
out  your  delightful  Places  ?  My  sister  Mulso,  if  she  has 
strength  to  reach  them,  has  a  soul  to  enjoy  them ;  my 
brother's  picturesque  genius  will  find  food.  Yes,  I  see 
you  upon  the  area  of  the  Hermitage,  the  arm  extended  and 
the  finger  pointing  out  the  happiest  lights  and  Shades  of 
the  prospect.  I  see  you  under  the  beeches  of  the  Lythe,* 
You  are  in  more  soft  and  mild  attitudes,  a  sort  of  Pastoral 
spirit  possesses  you ;  you  hardly  want  to  look  over  the  blue 
forest,  so  contented  are  you  in  your  green  recess.  .  .  .  What 
a  cold  Batchelour  are  you  !  So  many  Beauties,  and  so  many 
Thousands,  and  Integer  laudas?  Very  fine!  abominable  I 
mean.  As  to  poor  Harry  Tinderbox,  I  pity  his  liver.  Desire 
my  brother  to  use  his  pen,  as  well  as  his  pencil,  and  let  us 
be  the  better  for  it.  .  .  ." 

Miss  Catharine  Battle,  at  this  time  in  her  twen- 
tieth year,  kept  a  little  journal  of  her  summer  visit 
at  Selborne,  which  the  writer  of  this  memoir,  her 
great-grandson,  ventures  to  think  will  be  found  of 
sufficient  interest  to  excuse  its  being  given  in  full. 

A  little  Joiir7ial  of  some  of  the  Happiest  days  I  have  had  in 
The  happy  Valley  in  the  year  1763. 


The  4  of  June  1763  dined  in  the  Hermitage  the  company 
Mr.  White  Mr.t  &  Mrs.  Yalden  Uncle  Eichard  Miss  Jenny 
White  j  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Etty  my  Sisters  &  self,  Mrs.  Snooke§ 
came  up  to  Tea  with  us  had  a  very  agreable  day. 

*  Common  land,  near  the  stream,  at  Selborne. 
+  Vicar  of  Newton  Valence. 
X  Daughter  of  Benjamin  White. 

§  Of  Ringnier,  Gilbert  White's  aunt,  now  lately  a  widow. 
VOL.  I. — K 


130  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  i763 

The  10  of  June  at  Hackwood*  the  Seat  of  the  Duke  of 
Bolton's  it  is  a  sweet  pretty  place  walk'd  about  the  "Woods 
all  the  morning  then  went  to  see  Basingstoke  Church  after 
dinner  went  back  to  Hackwood  to  see  the  Kitchen  Garden 
then  we  remounted  our  horses  but  Kitty  being  tired  of  her 
Rider  soon  laid  me  down  softly  upon  a  fine  green  Carpet. 
Mr.  White  rode  the  rest  of  the  way  home,  we  had  a  very 
pleasant  day 

22  of  June  in  the  afternoon  Mr.  White  Mr.  Harry  White 
Mrs.  Snooke  &  Mrs.  Woods  drank  tea  here ;  Mr.  H.  White 
&  Nancy  sung  &  play'd  at  nine  o  clock  Dr.  Stebbingf  &  Mr. 
AirsonJ:  came.  Went  to  bed  between  twelve  &  one  o  Clock 
was  very  merry  after  supper  the  next  day  being  Mr.  &  Mrs. 
Ettys'  wedding  day  we  kept  it  with  mirth  &  jollity.  The 
morn  was  spent  at  the  Harpsicord  a  Ball  at  night  began 
minuets  at  half  an  hour  after  seven  then  danced  country 
dances  till  near  eleven  went  to  supper  after  supper  sat  some 
time  sung  laugh't  talk'd  &  then  went  to  dancing  again 
danced  till  3  in  the  morn:  at  half  an  hour  after  four  the 
company  all  went  away  we  danced  30,  danced,  never  had 
I  such  a  dance  in  my  life  before  nor  ever  shall  I  have  such 
a  one  again  I  believe. 

The  Company  at  the  Ball  were 

Mr.  Etty  &  Mrs.  Yalden 

Dr.  Stebbingf  &  Mrs.  Harrison 

Mr.  AirsonJ  &  Miss  Battie 

Mr.  Yalden  &  Miss  Higgens 

Mr.  Harry  White  &  Miss  Kitty  Battie 

Mr.  Foxcrof t  &  Miss  Newlin  § 

Mr.  Harrison  &  Miss  Philly  Battie 

*  Near  Basingstoke. 

t  Rector  of  Beaconsfield  1768-1801,  at  this  time  engaged  to  Miss  Littleton, 
Mrs.  Etty's  sister. 

X  A  clergyman  residing  near  Winchester. 

§  Probably  daughter  of  Richard  Newlin,  Rector  of  Greatham. 


1763 


A   BALL  AT   THE  VICARAGE  131 


The  Spectators  were 

Mr.  White  Mrs.  Snooke 
Mrs.  Woods  Miss  Littleton 
&  Mrs.  Etty. 

June  24  got  up  at  ten  in  very  good  spirits  (who  can  be 
otherwise  in  this  D*"  [dear]  place)  after  Breakfast  Mr.  Whites 
came  in  at  eleven  o  Clock  went  to  Church  at  two  we 
ascended  the  zigzag,  up  to  the  enchanting  spot,*  where 
we  dined  after  dinner  we  went  to  the  Tentf  here  we  sat 
till  6  when  we  went  back  to  the  Hermitage  to  tea  in  the 
middle  of  tea  we  had  a  visit  from  the  old  Hermit  J  his 
appearance  made  me  start  he  sat  some  time  with  us  & 
then  went  away  after  tea  we  went  into  the  Woods  return'd 
to  the  Hermitage  to  see  it  by  Lamp  light  it  look'd  sweetly 
indeed.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  happiness  of  this  day 
which  exceeded  any  I  ever  had  in  all  my  Life,  sweet 
Hermitage  agreeable  Company  fine  day  good  spirits  all 
combin'd  to  make  it  of  all  days  the  most  agreeable. 

Sat  25  after  Breakfast  Dr.  Stebbing  went  away.  Mr. 
Harry  White  came  in  to  take  his  leave  of  us  being  in 
a  great  hurry  to  go  but  the  3  sorceresses  Nanny  Kitty 
&  Delphy  so  bewitched  him  that  he  did  not  go  till  four 
in  the  afternoon. 

Monday  July  11  Dr.  Stebbing  came  Mr.  Wliite  drank 
tea  with  us  after  tea  Mr.  White  Mrs.  Woods  &  myself 
went  to  the  Hermitage. 

Tuesday  12  bad  day  nothing  done  worth  taking  any 
notice  of. 

Wed :  13  in  the  morning  Dr.  Stebbing,  Miss  Littleton  & 
Delphy  went  out  a  Horseback  Mr.  Budd  came  to  dinner 

*  The  Hermitage. 

t  An  ornamental  tent  is  shown  in  the  large  view  of  Selborne  in  the  first 
and  third  (quarto)  editions  of  "The  Natural  History  of  Selborne." 
J  Harry  White  personated  the  Hermit. 


132  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  mz^ 

after  dinner  Mr.  Harry  White  came  in  we  sung  &  Play'd  till 
tea  time,  after  tea  he  came  in  again  &  Play'd  till  supper 
time.  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Mulso  Mr.  E.  Mulso  and  Miss  Baker 
came  to  Mr.  White's. 

Thursday  14  drank  tea  &  spent  the  evening  at  Mr.  White's, 
after  tea  singing  playing  &  dancing,  after  supper  the  two 
Mr.  Mulso's  &  Mr.  Harry  White  sung  catches  never  laugh  t 
so  much  in  all  my  life. 

Friday  15  Mr.  Harry  White  breakfasted  with  us  all  the 
morn  was  spent  at  the  Harpsicord  in  the  afternoon  all  the 
family  from  over  the  way  came  here  except  Mrs.  Mulso 
the  afternoon  was  spent  in  a  most  delightful  manner  with 
Correlli  &  Handel  at  ten  went  to  supper  at  one  in  the  morn 
the  gentlemen  &  us  changed  Caps  &  wigs  several  minuets 
were  danced  Dr.  Stebbing  danced  a  charming  one. 

Sat.  16  Dr.  Stebbing  went  about  one  o  Clock  Mr.  Cane* 
&  Mr.  Henry  White  came  on  Horseback  to  the  Door  to  take 
leave  of  us  determined  not  to  come  in  but  he  soon  broke 
thro'  his  resolution  &  dismounted  came  in  sang  3  songs  & 
then  took  his  leave,  f 

Sunday  17  went  to  Church  twice  drank  tea  at  Mr. 
White's  the  company  agreeable  as  usual. 

Monday  18  Mr.  E.  Mulso  here  all  the  morn.  Sister  &  Mr. 
M.  sung  &  Play'd  drank  tea  at  home  by  ourselves  afterwards 
went  to  Mr.  White's. 

*  The  Rev.  Basil  Cane,  Gilbert  White's  first  cousin. 

t  The  following  note,  which  Miss  C.  Battie  carefully  preserved,  apparently 
refers  to  some  bet  between  her  and  Gilbert  White  upon  this  delayed  de- 
parture : — 

Madam, — I  make  a  point  of  paying  my  debts  of  Honour  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible :  but  at  the  same  time  can't  help  remarking  that  it  was  not  a  fair  wager. 
For  it  is  plain,  by  some  art  magic  best  known  to  yourself,  you  have  not  only 
a  power  of  detaining  men  that  ought  to  be  going  ;  but  also  of  keeping  those 
away  that  ought  to  come.  In  the  whole  it  is  best  that  I  have  been  the  loser, 
as  it  would  not  be  safe  in  all  appearance  to  receive  even  so  much  as  a  pin 
from  your  Hands. — I  am,  with  many  axxxxxxx  and  many  a  Pater 
noster  and  Ave  Maria,  Gil.  White. 


1763  AMUSEMENTS  AT  SELBOKNE  133 

Tuesday  19  after  breakfast  Mr.  W.  came  in  to  ask  us  to  go 
out  a  Hiding  we  drest  and  went  over  to  his  house  but  the 
weather  grew  so  bad  that  it  prevented  our  going  We  spent 
the  morn  together  with  much  mirth  &  cheerfulness  we  were 
all  weigh'd  to  see  how  much  we  were  worth.  I  weigh 
134  lb  oh  monstrous  afterwards  we  were  all  measured  came 
home  to  dinner  in  the  afternoon  Mr.  White  the  Mulsos  etc. 
etc.  came  here  with  work  singing  &  Playing  we  spent  a 
very  agreeable  evening  mem.  Charles*  was  put  into  long 
[sic]  Coats   look'd  vastly  pretty. 

Wed  20  after  breakfast  Mrs.  M.  Mrs.  Woods  &  Miss  B.  came 
in  Miss  B.  Philly  and  self  &  the  two  Mr.  Mulsos  went  up  to 
the  D""  Hermitage  Mr.  T  Mulso  gave  us  a  discourse  upon 
Natural  Phylosophy  &  Astronomy  we  work'd  he  read  some 
of  Thomsons  Seasons  we  walk'd  in  the  Woods  &  then  came 
home  to  dinner  I  hope  I  edify'd  by  his  sensible  discourse 
Mr.  E.  M.  &  Mr.  White  drank  tea  here  afterwards  we  went 
out  a  Eiding  I  rode  double  for  the  first  time  rode  upon 
the  sweet  Commons  &  in  the  High  Wood  call'd  at  Newton, 
it  was  a  most  delightful  evening  I  hope  we  are  going  to 
have  fine  weather. 

Thursday  21.  after  Breakfast  went  into  the  Hay  field 
toss'd  the  hay  about  a  little  then  went  to  Mr.  White's  sat 
in  the  Alcove  spent  the  morn  most  delightfully  Mr. 
T.  Mulso  read  Thomson  &  at  Two  came  home  to  dinner 
at  6  we  met  again  to  walk  went  up  to  the  sweet  Hermitage 
sat  viewing  its  various  beauteous  [?  views]  some  time  then 
walk  round  the  wood  back  to  the  Hermitage,  Mr.  White 
read  us  an  acrostick  made  upon  Nanny.  Miss  Baker  &  I 
found  a  stone  upon  the  Common  which  we  carried  to  the 
Hermitage  &  placed  it  there  as  a  memorial  of  our  fondness 
for  that  place. 

*  Son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Etty.  When  he  grew  up  he  entered  the  naval 
service  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  was  the  "young  gentleman"  who 
brought  home  the  Chinese  dogs  mentioned  in  Letter  LVIIL,  to  Barrington, 
of  "The  Natural  History  of  Selborne." 


134  GILBEET  WHITE   OF    SELBOENE  i763 

Friday  22.  Work'd  in  the  Garden  till  one  o  Clock 
H.  Baker  with  us  from  one  to  two  musick.  Mr.  E.  Mulso 
dined  with  us  sat  in  the  garden  after  dinner  at  five  went  to 
Mr.  Whitens  drank  tea  under  the  Tent  in  his  sweet  fields  all 
the  Newton  family  there,  walk  up  in  the  evening  to  the 
Hermitage  another  acrostick  upon  Nannie. 

Sat.  23  Mrs.  Mulso  Mr.  E.  M.  &  Miss  Baker  here  in  the 
morn  we  work'd  Nanny  &  Mr.  E.  M.  Play'd  in  the  afternoon 
they  drank  tea  here  it  Thundered  &  rain'd  I  had  the  head- 
ache very  bad. 

Sunday  24.  went  to  Church  twice  drank  tea  at  Mr. 
Whites  it  rain'd  all  the  morn  the  evening  proved  fine  we 
walk'd  in  his  sweet  fields. 

Monday  25  rode  in  the  morn,  with  Mr.  White  to  Church 
at  Faringdon  came  home  at  one  Mr.  Henry  White  &  Mr. 
Cane  came  they  all  dined  here  upon  a  Haunch  of  Yenison 
after  dinner  musick  &  singing  the  Newton  people  came  down 
after  tea  we  danced  before  supper.  Mr.  E.  Mulso  sung  us  a 
song  made  upon  the  3  sorceresses  set  to  the  Pastorrella,  after 
supper  many  songs  &  catches  were  sung  at  one  they  went 
away.  We  had  a  very  agreeable  day  how  is  it  possible  to  do 
otherwise  with  all  these  cheerful  goodnatured  People.  We 
were  all  Shepherdesses. 

Tuesday  26  went  out  a  Horseback  behind  Mr.  H.  W.  as 
soon  as  we  got  upon  the  common  it  began  raining  We  stop 
at  Newton  came  in  like  drowned  rats  were  very  merry  came 
home  in  the  rain  behind  Mr.  White  in  the  afternoon  drank 
tea  with  him  sisters  &  self  had  our  shaddows  taken. 

Wed  27 :  after  breakfast  wrote  musick  then  went  over  to 
Mr.  White's  to  be  electrified  in  the  evening  walk'd  to  Noar 
Hill  oh  sweet  evening  sure  there  never  was  anything  equal 
to  the  romantickness  of  that  D"^  D*"-  Hill,  never  never  shall 
I  forget  Empshot  &  the  gloomy  Woods  the  distant  Hills 
the  South  Downs  the  woody  Hills  on  the  right  Hand,  the 
forest  the  valleys  oh  all  are  heavenly  almost  too  much  for 


1763 


A  PAETY   AT   THE  WAKES  135 


one  to  bear,  the  sight  of  this  beauteous  prospect  gives  me  a 
pleasing  melancholy.     6  of  us  walk  7  rode  got  back  at  nine. 

Thursday  28  in  the  morn;  Rode  to  the  Barnet  from 
whence  we  had  a  Prospect  of  Wilts;  Hants  Berks  Sussex 
Surry,  got  home  to  dinner  at  two  after  dinner  went  up  to 
the  T>^  Hermitage  we  drank  tea  afterwards  the  old  Hermit 
came  to  us  he  told  Nannie  and  H.  Baker  their  fortunes  after 
the  old  man  had  sat  some  time  with  us  he  retired  &  we 
adjourned  to  the  tent  where  we  Shepherdesses  *  danced ;  at 
nine  the  lamp  was  lighted,  enchanting  scene  oh  never  did  I 
see  anything  like  it  'tis  'tis  Arcadia  Happy  Happy  Vale 
when  shall  I  see  thee  again. 

Friday  29  after  Breakfast  the  gentlemen  came  over  here 
musick  all  the  morn  dined  &  supt  at  Mr.  Whites  after 
dinner  Singing  &  Playing  &  Shadows  taken  after  Supper 
Catches  &  Songs.  At  one  in  the  morn  we  changed  Caps  & 
Wigs  with  the  Gentlemen  &  danced  minuets  spent  a  very 
agreeable  day. 

Sat  30  Mr.  Henry  White  breakfasted  with  us  afterwards 
went  over  the  way  heard  the  Eolian  Harp  there  we  had 
some  of  old  Handel  at  two  Mr.  H.  &  Mr.  Cane  went  in  the 
afternoon  we  all  went  to  Newton,  very  merry,  Corridon 
dined  with  us  upon  a  leg  of  mutton. 

Sunday  31  went  to  Church  twice  Mr.  White  Pray'd  & 
Preached  after  Church  we  all  walk'd  together  in  our  garden 
the  [sic]  over  the  way  drank  tea  here,  walk'd  to  Hartley  saw 

*  This  costume  was  apparently  suggested  by  Gilbert  White,  since  Miss 
Battie  preserved  the  following  verses  in  his  handwriting : — 

"Gilbert,  a  meddling,  luckless  swain 
Must  alter  lady's  dresses, 
To  dapper  Hats,  and  tuck'd  up  train, 
And  jflower-enwoven  tresses. 

**  But  now  the  Lout  with  loss  of  heart 
Must  for  his  rashness  pay  ; 
He  rues  for  tamp'ring  with  a  dart 
Too  prompt  before  to  slay  !  " 


136  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1763 

the  House  &  Park  the  House  stands  deplorably  some  views 
from  the  Park  are  very  fine. 

Monday  August  1^*  after  Breakfast  we  went  out  a  Riding 
at  Newton  Gate  we  were  all  seized  with  a  sudden  panick  & 
dismounted  sent  our  Horses  home  &  walk'd  into  the  High 
Wood  from  there  to  the  Hermitage  where  we  sat  for  some 
time ;  as  we  were  coming  down  the  Zig-Zag  what  should  we 
spy  in  Punt  field  but  Strephon  &  Collin  return'd  oh  the  Poor 
bewitched  men.  Went  home  to  dinner  afterwards  we  went 
into  the  Hayfield  underneath  our  garden  then  went  over  the 
way  to  tea  after  tea  walk  to  the  Priory  had  a  most  delightful 
walk  thro'  Woods  &  hay  fields. 

Tuesday  2"^  after  Breakfast  musick  till  dinner  time 
Corrydon  &  Strephon  here  Mr.  White  etc.  drank  tea  here 
&  supt  danced  &  sung  merry  &  happy  as  usual. 

Wed  3  before  breakfast  Strephon  came  in  and  presented 
me  with  an  elegy  upon  my  departure  *  after  breakfast  went 
over  to  Mr.  White's  for  a  little  while  then  came  back  all 

*  Carefully  preserved  by  the  Diarist,  with  some  "Relicts  of  the  dear 
Hermitage,"  are  the  following  verses  addressed  to  her  by  Harry  White: — 

"DAPHNE'S  DEPARTURE; 

"an  elegy  WKITTEN  at  SELBOniN,    1763. 

1. 

' '  Too  plain  my  Heart  forbodes  that  fatal  Hour, 
When  dearest  Daphne  leaves  the  happy  Vale  ; 
Let  then  this  Breast  own  Love's  resistless  pow'r, 
Nor  longer  strive  its  anguish  to  conceal. 

2. 
"  In  vain  stern  Reason  bids  me  check  my  Woe, 
Or  stay  the  Current  of  these  fruitless  Tears ; 
For  thee  dear  Nymph !  they  must  for  ever  flow, 
Fed  by  the  fountain  of  thy  Strephon's  fears. 


"  Ah  !  wretched  Selbourn  !  what  avail  thy  Shades 
Thy  lofty  Hills  with  waving  Beeches  crown'd  ; 
Their  boasted  Glory  now  for  ever  fades. 
And  endless  Winter  shall  thy  Vales  surround. 


1763 


A  LITTLE  JOURNAL  137 


came  with  us  walk'd  round  the  sweet  Garden  came  into 
dinner  no  stomach  to  it  at  half  an  hour  after  one  left 
the  happy  valley  with  a  heavy  heart  the  whole  company 
cry'd  Strephon,  Corydon  &  Collin  rid  with  the  post-Chaise 
parted  with  poor  Strephon  &  Collin  at  the  Wheatsheaf 
with  Corydon  at  Alton,  here  the  scene  closes  the  play  is 
done  the  pleasing  dream  is  oer  &  tomorrow  I  must  awake 
&  find  myself  in  London.  Adieu  happy  Vale  enchanting 
Hermitage  much  loved  stump  beauteous  Hanger  sweet  Lythe 


"How  sweetly  I,  at  close  of  Summer's  Day, 

While  thy  dear  presence  blessed  these  happy  Bowers, 
Could  lost  in  rapture  with  my  Daphne  stray, 
Or  in  soft  converse  pass  the  fleeting  Hours. 

5. 

"  The  mazy  Zigzag — or  th'  inclianting  Cell — 

But  Scenes  like  these  no  longer  chear  my  Eyes  ; 
Nor  shining  Lake,  nor  wild  romantic  Dell, 
Nor  craggy  Mountains  soaring  to  the  Skies. 

6. 
"  The  hoary  Hermit  in  his  calm  Retreat, 

No  longer  safe  from  her  resistless  Charms ; 
"With  trembling  Hand,  dim  Eye,  and  faultering  Feet, 
Sighs  out  his  Dotage  o'er  her  snowy  Arras  ! 

7. 

*'  Alas  !  how  changed  !  already  seems  the  Scene, 
Where  Pleasure  erst  triumphant  held  her  Sway  ; 
No  more  her  jocund  Train  with  Smile  serene 

Shall  chear  each  mournfid — each  long  lingering  Day. 

8. 
"  Then,  let  me,  Fairest !  fly  this  once  lov'd  Place, 
Forlorn  to  vent  my  sighs  in  hopeless  Grief ; 
E'en  thy  dear  Image  from  my  Soul  efface. 
And  in  Oblivion  seek  a  sad  relief. 

9. 

*•  But  see  ! — my  Charmer  drops  the  pitying  Tear  ! 

Oh  may  she  prove  indulgent  to  my  Pain  ! 

This  Heart  that  loves  her  with  a  Flame  sincere. 

Shall  then  its  wonted  Chearfulness  regain. 

"Strephon." 


138  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  i763 

to  all  I  bid  adieu  with  grateful  thanks  may  the  "Woods 
flourish  may  no  mischievous  Boy  hurt  the  little  Nest  may 
all  the  good  inhabitants  have  as  many  happy  days  there 
as  I  have  had  'tis  the  sincere  wish  of  Dapttnf 

Though  London  seemed  to  this  young  lady  such 
a  dismal  residence  after  Selborne,  it  may  be  recorded 
that  the  bow- window  of  the  back  drawing-room  of 
her  father's  house  in  Great  Russell  Street,  at  the 
corner  of  Montague  Street,  the  site  of  which  has 
long  been  absorbed  by  the  British  Museum  buildings, 
at  this  time  commanded  an  uninterrupted  view  of 
the  Highgate  and  Hampstead  woods.  A  few  years 
afterwards  the  eldest  of  the  three  sisters  married 
Admiral  Sir  George  Young ;  the  second,  Catharine, 
became  in  1771  the  wife  of  John  Rashleigh,  of 
Penquite,  Fowey ;  son  of  Jonathan  Rashleigh,  of 
Menabilly,  Cornwall ;  and  the  youngest,  Philadelphia, 
married  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir,  John  Call,  Bart. 

On  July  28th,  1763,  John  Mulso  writes  :— 

"  I  received  a  letter  last  night  from  my  dear  brother  Ned. 
If  he  is  still  with  you  I  beg  you  to  thank  him  for  it.  I 
gather  from  it  that  you  find  your  guests  in  a  variety  of 
entertainments,  and  keep  them  constantly  employed  in 
gallantry.  They  are  now  reduced,  by  the  departure  of  the 
Sorceresses,  to  the  elegiac  strain ;  and  must  at  least  hang 
verses  on  the  Beeches  of  the  Hanger  and  the  Noar,  if  they 
do  not  serve  themselves  in  the  same  way." 

Though  he  did  not  hang  either  himself  or  his 
verses  on  the  Selborne  Woods,  Gilbert  White  soon 


1763  "KITTY'S   FAKEWELL"  139 

afterwards,  on  November  1st,  1763,  composed  his 
now  well-known  verses  **  On  Selborne  Hanger,  a 
Winter  Piece "  which  he  dedicated  *'  To  the  Miss 
Battles,"  wherein  he  celebrated 

..."  The  scene  that  late  with  rapture  rang, 
Where  Delphy  danced  and  gentle  Anna  sang, 
And  on  her  stump  reclined  the  musing  Kitty  sate." 

The  occasion  of  the  departure  of  these  ladies  also 
called  forth  the  following  lines  by  Gilbert  White, 
now  printed  for  the  first  time  : — 

"KITTY'S  FAREWELL  TO  THE  STUMP  BENEATH 
THE  HERMITAGE. 

"  Kitty,  a  grateful  Girl,  in  doleful  dump, 
On  the  steep  cliff  deplor'd  her  favourite  stump. 
*  Shall  I  no  more  (the  melting  Maiden  cries,) 
With  thy  siveet  scenes  delight  my  feasting  eyes  : 
Say,  shall  no  more  thy  nearer  views  engage. 
The  crouded  Tent  and  swelling  Hermitage ; 
Shall  the  cowl'd  Sage  no  more  my  sight  beguile. 
So  stout,  yet  so  decrepit  all  the  while ; 
Wond'rous  old  man,  in  whom  at  once  combine 
The  hoary  Hermit,  and  the  young  Divine  1 
In  dapper  hat  adorn'd,  and  pastoral  dress, 
Must  I  forget  each  Sister  Shepherdess ; 
While  amorous  swains,  bending  with  anxious  care, 
Down  the  loose  slope  conduct  their  sliding  Fair? 
Delightful  stump  !  on  thy  rough  lap  reclin'd. 
How  shall  I  paint  the  transports  of  my  mind  1 
Words  are  but  vain  :  come  then  the  starting  tear, 
And  soften'd  feature,  speak  my  love. sincere.'" 

The  Garden  Kalendar  records — 

"  July  28.  Drank  tea  twenty  of  us  at  the  Hermitage ;  the 
Miss  Battles  and  the  Mulso  family  contributed  much  to  our 


140  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  i763 

pleasure  by  their  singing  and  being  dressed  as  shepherds  and 
shepherdesses.  It  was  a  most  elegant  evening ;  and  all 
parties  appeared  highly  satisfyed.  The  Hermit  appeared  to 
great  advantage. 

"  Aug.  3.  Cut  a  fine-looking  cantaleupe  and  sent  it  by  the 
Ladies  (who  left  Selborne  this  day)  to  D"*  Battle." 

On  October  3rd,  1763,  Mulso  writes  again,  re- 
ferring to  the  question  of  the  living  : — 

"  I  read  to  the  Bishop  your  letter,  wherein  you  relate  your 
proceeding  with  your  Patron.  .  .  .  You  need  not  doubt  that  I 
urged  my  own  opinion  of  you  to  him,  as  far  as  was  decent : 
and  though  not  one  word  was  said  in  return,  I  hope  it 
will  operate  in  Time.  I  heartily  wish  it  may  ;  that  my 
friendship  may  not  have  been  quite  unfruitful  to  you  in 
point  of  interest.  .  .  .  Your  affection,  which  has  always 
shown  itself  in  every  possible  instance,  demands  a  constant 
desire  in  me  to  please  and  serve  you.  It  has  been  one 
of  the  blessings  for  which  I  am  ever  thankful  to  Divine 
Providence,  and  it  has  greatly  helped  to  enliven  and  sweeten 
the  painful  passage  of  human  life. 

"  That  I  might  give  you  some  account  of  my  last  interview 
with  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  was  the  principal  reason  of 
deferring  answering  your  last,  for  otherwise  I  should  have 
been  quicker  to  quiet  your  apprehensions  of  our  ever 
suspecting  that  you  had  not  done  all  possible  to  make  us 
a  visit  in  the  north.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  glad  so  many  of  my  relations  have  seen  Selbourne : 
they  all  express  the  highest  pleasure  in  their  visit.  As 
to  the  consequences  to  the  young  gentlemen,  it  will  be 
no  great  matter,  especially  as  it  purges  off  in  Poetry :  when 
Passion  is  fanciful  it  is  not  dangerous.  Ned  requires  these 
Brushings,  being  apt  to  have  torpid  and  viscous  blood,  if  a 
love  fit  now  and  then  did  not  quicken  his  pulses.  It  would 
not  do  you  so  much  good,  unless  it  was  once  to  the  Purpose ; 


1763  MULSO   ON  THE   SHEPHEKDESSES  141 

for  we,  my  friend,  begin  to  grow  into  a  more  serious  age, 
and  to  mean  a  little  more  what  we  profess.  I  beg  you 
to  get  as  much  this  winter  as  possible  into  the  gay  world ; 
for  it  will  be  of  prejudice  to  your  health  and  spirits  to 
employ  a  winter  in  putting  on  wood  in  a  country  village. 
At  all  events,  and  wherever,  write  to  me  often,  for  when 
even  the  mind  alone  expatiates,  the  body  is  something  the 
better  for  it." 

On  December  7th,  1763,  Mulso  writes  again  to  his 
friend  who  was  visiting  in  Kathbone  Place  : — 

"A  little  of  the  bustle,  and  talk,  and  variety  of  London 
is  absolutely  necessary  for  you.  And  if  you  should  have 
any  farther  knowledge  of  the  Miss  B's,  it  might  have  rather 
a  salutary  than  a  dangerous  effect,  for  it  is  my  notion  that 
they  may  be  very  safely  taken  either  full  or  fasting.  I  hope 
the  town  does  not  disagree  with  you  after  so  long  an  absence 
from  it.  I  know  you  used  to  be  sorely  beset  about  bread 
and  beer  in  London.  We  sit  at  a  distance  and  are  but  little 
troubled  here  about  things  that  wear  a  grave  face  with  you ; 
but  perhaps  a  little  of  the  wiser  business  of  London  may 
not  be  disagreeable  to  you,  after  having  been  so  far  from  it 
as  Arcadia.  How  very  different !  and  how  many  people  did 
you  make  happy  last  summer !  Some  indeed  bear  some 
scars;  for  even  the  sweet  rosebush  has  its  thorns.  I  en- 
deavoured to  laugh  at  some  of  them  as  mere  scratches, 
but  alas  poor  King  Lear*  was  mad  in  his  last  letter,  the 
paroxysm  was  upon  him  and  he  complained  that  he  was 
cut  to  the  train.  So  I  have  not  dared  to  say  a  word  yet, 
till  the  heated  imagination  is  grown  cool.  I  hope  the  poor 
curates  at  Lurgeshallf  are  come  to  themselves  again." 

*  Qu.  Ned  Mulso,  •'Corydon"  ? 

t  Basil  Cane,  "Colin,"  was  curate  of  Ludgershall,  Wilts,  two  miles  distant 
from  Harry  White's,  "Strephon's,"  living  of  Tidworth. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

That,  as  regards  Gilbert  White  at  least,  no  very 
deep  impression  had  been  made  by  the  charming 
shepherdesses,  may  be  gathered  from  a  remark  which 
John  Mulso  makes  soon  afterwards  (January  6th, 
1764)— 

"  So  that  I  find  the  Miss  B s  are  still  ladies  *  that 

you  know  hut  little  of.'" 

Perhaps,  however,  his  friend  felt  lonely  sometimes 
at  his  house  at  Selborne,  for  the  letter  continues — 

"I  am  glad  you  have  got  Mrs.  Snooke  with  you;  for  I 
remember  that  what  with  snuffing  the  Candle,  making  up 
the  wood-fire,  and  paring  your  nails,  you  could  seldom  get 
through  the  writing  of  one  letter  in  an  evening;  now  she 
may  do  a  good  deal  of  this  for  you.  But  she  must  not 
talk ;  for  then  you  will  think  of  nobody  but  her ;  and  that 
must  not  be.  ...  I  have  but  little  hope  of  your  thinking 
much  of  any  particular  absent  Female,  because  when  you 
say  '  while  I,  doing  no  good  in  my  generation,  am  still  single,' 
you  did  not  insert  the  lover-like  word  alas!  after  /.  There 
is  a  sort  of  sentimental  sorrow  in  the  whole  sentence,  but 
there  is  not  Feeling  enough  for  a  man  in  earnest  without 
the  word  alas'' 

142 


1764         VISITS  FYFIELD— WHITES  VEESES  143 

Meanwhile  the  heart-whole  bachelor  at  Selborne 
continued  to  record  contentedly  in  that  veritable 
journal  of  Adam  in  Paradise,  his  Garden  Kalendar, 
the  exact  particulars  of  brewing  his  strong  beer  and 
bottling  "half  an  Hogsh.  of  Mrs.  Atherley's  Port 
wine,"  which  had,  he  notices,  '*  not  quite  so  good 
a  smell  and  flavour  as  usual,  and  seemed  always  to 
show  a  disposition  to  mantle  in  the  glass."  Later  on 
in  the  spring  he  made  his  usual  journey  to  Oxford,  and 
paid  his  brother  at  Fyfield  two  visits  in  the  summer. 
In  the  intervals  he  engaged  in  thinning  and  tack- 
ing his  peaches  and  nectarines  "in  a  very  regular 
manner,"  and  in  March  sent  some  verses  to  Mulso, 
which  the  latter  pronounced  "as  good  as  ever  you 
wrote  ;  they  are  full  of  lively  Description,  of  Natural 
Painting,  of  Tenderness,  and  Elegance." 
Mulso  writes  on  June  29th,  1764  : — 
"  My  brother  has  described  to  me  your  new  alterations !  " 
He  goes  on  to  describe  a  ball  given  at  his  house  in 
Yorkshire — 

"  How  would  you  have  stared !  and  what  music  book  must 
I  have  got  for  you  to  have  studied  in  a  corner  ? " 

Mentioning  his  having  to  part  with  a  horse  of  his 
own,  he  remarks — 

"I  have  no  idea  of  a  separation  between  you  and  a 
horse,  who  were  once  the  centaur  not  fabulous^ 

In  September  the  Garden  Kalendar  records  : — 
"  Got  a  stone  mason  to  fix  the  stone  with  my  name  and 
the  date  of  the  wall  in  the  middle  of  the  fruit  wall.     When 
the  mason  came  to  chizzel  a  hole  for  the  stone  he  found  the 
wall  perfectly  sound,  dry,  and  hard." 


144  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  i764 

Part  of  this  wall  stands  to  this  day.  The  inscrip- 
tion is  "  G.  W.,  1761."  Contented  though  he  seems 
to  have  been  in  his  Eveless  Eden,  his  thoughts  must 
have  recurred  to  the  subject  of  matrimony ;  for  on 
September  14th,  1764,  his  friend  Mulso  writes  : — 

f*  I  find  by  your  hints  that  you  are  determined  not  to  die 
an  old  Batchelour,  if  you  can  help  it ;  tho'  you  are  not  yet 
fixed.  Well,  speed  you  well !  but  look  well  about  you ; 
consider  you  are  beyond  your  octavum  lustrum,  which,  tho'  it 
is  (/  hope)  not  quite  time  to  leave  off  the  Ladies,  is  full  time 
to  begin  with  them." 

The  obstacle  to  matrimony  was  clearly  the  fact 
that  unless  he  accepted  a  college  living,  his  fortune, 
without  his  Fellowship,  which  would  of  course  have 
been  vacated  by  marriage,  was  insufficient  to  support 
a  family  ;  and  to  accept  preferment  would  have 
probably  involved  leaving  his  home  and  all  its  be- 
longings at  Selborne.  Just  at  this  time  (at  the  end 
of  1764)  the  college  living  of  Cholderton,  in  Wilts, 
on  the  borders  of  Hants,  fell  vacant.  In  January, 
1765,  Mulso  writes: — 

"  You  have  been  upon  the  ramble  a  good  while,  and  I  have 
had  no  precise  account  yet  of  your  Eeturn  to  Selborne ;  but 
from  the  season  of  the  year  I  guess  that  you  are  at  home. 
To  say  truth,  from  a  hint  in  your  last  letter,  and  your  patient 
acceptance  of  my  hint  about  matrimony,  I  suspected  that 
your  journey  to  London  had  a  view  to  that  change  of  your 
condition ;  especially  as  you  show  an  inclination  to  detach 
yourself  from  College  by  accepting  of  so  moderate  a  living 
as  Cholderton.  ...  If  you  can  be  dispensed  with  for  re- 
siding at  Cholderton,  any  little  thing  added  to  your  own 


1765  EEFUSES   CHOLDERTON  145 

Fortune  would  make  you  comfortable.  Wilts  is  under  Salis- 
bury, and  the  present  bishop  is  a  reasonable  man.  I  hear 
heavy  complaints  of  my  Lord  of  Exeter  for  obliging  his 
clergy  to  reside,  whether  they  have  a  house  or  no,  so  I  am 
glad  it  is  not  in  that  Diocese.  I  had  a  letter  lately  from  my 
sister  Chapone  in  which  she  tells  me  that  she  had  laid  a 
little  plan  with  you  for  a  visit  to  me  this  spring  or  summer." 

Whether  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  proved  what 
Mulso  would  have  termed  an  unreasonable  man 
does  not  appear,  but  the  living  was  declined. 

On  March  9th,  1765,  Mulso  again  writes  : — 

"I  hope  to  see  you  according  to  the  plan  you  have  laid 
down.  I  have  had  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Chapone,  in  which  she 
seems  to  think,  that,  if  business  will  permit,  she  cannot  have 
an  opportunity  of  a  fellow  traveller  more  agreeable  than 
yourself,  and  that  at  her  time  of  life  she  may  set  off  with  you 
without  the  imputation  of  being  driving  away  to  Scotland. 
.  ,  .  Your  description  of  your  sitting  in  your  dining-room 
reminds  me  of  your  old  situation  in  the  Fens.  For  shame, 
Gil,  this  vacuity  ought  to  have  been  filled  up." 

IP  On  May  19th,  1765,  another  letter  announces  the 
recent  dangerous  illness  of  Mrs.  Mulso,  and  that 
Mrs.  Chapone  would  "not  be  of  your  party.  She 
cannot  leave  London  till  July,  if  then,  and  has 
another  plan  of  conveyance." 

The  Gai^den  Kalendar  pleasantly  records  its  com- 
piler's observations  on  the  journey  home  from  Fy field, 
where  he  had  been  visiting  his  brother  Henry. 

"  July  6.  There  have  been  fine  rains  round  Andover  and 
Salisbury:  the  verdure  on  the  Downs  is  very  delicate  and 
the  sheep  ponds  are  full  of  water.    But  when  I  came  on  this 

VOL.  I. — L 


146  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  i765 

side  Alresford  I  found  all  the  ponds  without  one  drop  of 
water ;  and  the  turf  and  corn  burnt  up  in  a  very  deplorable 
manner ;  and  everything  perishing  in  the  gardens.  .  .  . 

"The  downs  between  Alresford  and  Andover  are  full 
of  Burnet;  so  full  in  many  places  that  it  is  almost  the 
only  herb  that  covers  the  ground ;  and  is  eaten  down  very 
close  by  sheep,  who  are  fond  of  it.  The  case  is  the  same 
between  Andover  and  Sarum  where  in  many  places  the 
ground  is  covered  with  Burnet  now  in  seed :  a  child  might 
in  those  places  gather  a  considerable  quantity  in  a  day.  It 
is  worth  observation  that  this  herb  seems  to  abound  most  in 
poorest  and  shallowest  chalky  soil.  On  Selborne  Common  (a 
rich  strong  piece  of  ground)  it  has  not  been  yet  discovered. 

"Near  Walker's  Ash  I  rode  through  a  piece  of  ground 
of  about  400  acres  which  had  been  lately  pared  by  a  breast 
plough  for  burning:  here  the  Burnet  was  coming  up  very 
thick  on  the  bare  ground,  though  the  crown  of  the  root 
must  have  been  cut  off  of  course  along  with  the  turf:  this 
shows  that  it  is  a  plant  tenacious  of  life,  since  it  springs 
from  the  severed  root  like  plantain." 

On  June  24th,  1765,  Mulso  intimates  that  he  is 

"pretty  confident  that  if  poor  Ned  Acton  gets  better  and 
can  spare  his  assistant,  or  if  any  other  hand  can  be  got  to 
be  employed  in  your  musical  affair,  that  you  will  set  off  for 
Thornhill  in  a  moment,  in  spite  of  the  new  fronting  of  your 
stables.  You  build  like  rich  men,  who  generally  take  care 
of  their  horses'  conveniencies  before  the  rest  of  their  family. 
...  To  whet  your  inclinations  to  come  northward,  I  let  you 
know  that  my  sister  Chapone  is  now  with  us,  and  will, 
I  hope,  stay  with  us  till  the  winter.*  .  .  .  My  sister  kindly 

*  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  her  brother,  or  perhaps  during 
one  paid  in  1766,  that  Mrs.  Chapone  conceived  that  partiality  for  her  niece, 
his  eldest  daughter,  to  which  society  is  indebted  for  her  *  Letters  on  the 
Improvement  of  the  Mind.' 


1765  STUDIES   BOTANY  147 

hastened  her  coming  to  be  a  comfort  the  sooner  to  my  poor 
dear  wife,  who  is  still  in  a  very  weak  way.  Do  you  not 
think  it  was  a  bold  undertaking  in  Mrs.  Chapone  to  set  out 
alone  from  London  and  be  hurried  away  in  chance  company 
in  the  Leeds  machine  ? " 

Probably  it  was  largely  owing  to  his  dislike  of 
travelling  by  the  Leeds — or  any — machine,  that 
Gilbert  White  never  saw  Thornhill,  since  he  suffered 
severely  from  **  coach-sickness." 

The  letter  continues — 

"  I  saw  in  my  last  paper  that  D*"  Blake's  death  has  vacated 
the  living  of  Tortworth ;  pray,  is  not  that  in  your  option  as 
Fellow  ?  I  am  impatient  to  know  whether  you  are  rector  of 
Tortworth;  if  so,  clap  in  a  curate  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
come  away  after  institution,  induction,  etc. ;  they  can  better 
bear  your  absence  before  they  are  well  acquainted  with  you 
than  they  can  afterwards.  Mrs.  Mulso  and  I  were  very  much 
shocked  at  the  accounts  of  the  accident  and  end  of  the  poor 
little  boy.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  settled  you  in  your 
debates  upon  matrimony,  and  confirmed  you  in  your  state  of 
celibacy ;  for  you  observe  with  a  formality  of  stile,  which  you 
drop  in  the  next  sentence,  that  Wedlock  hath  also  numbers 
of  cares,  etc.,  as  if  you  had  excerpted  the  observation  from 
a  treatise  on  the  expediency  of  dying  an  old  Batchelor." 

Whether  he  really  felt  lonely  or  not,  Gilbert  White 
at  this  time  took  up  seriously  the  study  of  botany, 
purchasing  Hudson's  'Flora  Anglica'  in  this  year — 
a  book  in  which  he  ultimately  marked  439  plants 
as  being  found  in  the  parish  of  Selborne. 

From  August  9th,  1765,  the  Garden  Kalendar 
changes  its  name  to  that  of  a  Calendar  of  Flora 


148  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  ms 

and   the    Garden.      Fauna,   however,   was   not   for- 
gotten— 

"July  16.  A  great  rain  at  Hazelmere  where  I  was  then. 
Several  fern  owls  or  goatsuckers  flying  about  in  the  evening 
at  Blackdown  House. 

"July  21.  The  glow-worms  no  longer  shine  on  the 
Common:  in  June  they  were  very  frequent.  I  once  saw 
them  twinkle  in  the  South  Hams  of  Devon  as  late  as  the 
middle  of  September. 

"July  28.  The  goldfinch,  yellow  hammer,  and  skylark 
are  the  only  birds  that  continue  to  sing.  The  redbreast 
is  just  beginning.  The  field-crickets  in  the  Lythe  cry  no 
longer. 

"  August  30.  The  water  wagtail  seems  to  be  the  smallest 
English  bird  that  walks  with  one  leg  at  a  time :  the  rest 
of  that  size  and  under  all  hop  two  legs  together." 

In  September  her  nephew  visited  Mrs.  Snooke  at 
Kingmer,  near  Lewes.  During  an  eight  hours'  rain 
he  '*  lay-by  at  Brighthelmstone."  In  a  lane  *' towards 
the  sea,  near  a  village  called  Whiting,"  he  discovered 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  Burnet-rose,  and  notes 
the  wheatears  on  the  Sussex  down — 

"Vast  quantities  are  caught  by  the  shepherds  in  the 
season  (about  the  beginning  of  Harvest) ;  and  yet  no  numbers 
are  ever  seen  together,  they  not  being  gregarious." 

Eeturning  to  Selborne  he  **  examined  the  wild 
black  Hellebore,  an  uncommon  Plant  in  general, 
but  very  common  in  Selborne  Wood."^ 

*  Two  species  of  Hellebore,  foetidus  and  viridis,  are  recorded  in  his  copy  of 
Hudson's  '  Flora  Anglica, '  with  the  usual  +  and  in  addition  the  mark  ! 


17( 


VISITS   OXFOED  149 


On  October  15th  he  set  out  for  Oxford.  On  his 
way  he  evidently  botanised  with  industry.  He 
notes — 

"  Oct.  16.  Discovered  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  as 
I  walked  from  Streatly  to  Wallingford — 

"The  water  hoar-hound,  marrubium  aquaticum;  the  yellow 
willow-herb,  or  loose-strife,  lysimachia ;  the  purple  spiked 
D°  lysimachia  purpurea  ;  and  the  Comfrey  Symphytum  mag- 
num in  bloom,  being  one  of  the  herhce  asperifolice ;  water 
figwort,  scrop.  aquat" 

The  entry  continues  with  the  list  of  plants  he 
noticed  at  the  Physic  Garden  at  Oxford.  On  re- 
turning to  Selborne,  many  botanical  discoveries 
there  and  in  the  neighbourhood  were  recorded. 

On  April  25th,  1766,  John  Mulso,  who  had  spent 
the  winter  in  London,  writes  expressing  his  delight 
at  meeting  his  friend  again  : — 

"Vegetation  thrives  apace  now,  and  I  suppose  you  are 
quite  intent  on  your  new  study.  You  will  not  perhaps 
relish  a  Prospect  the  worse  when  we  force  you  to  look  up,  as 
I  presume  you  will  go  with  your  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground 
most  part  of  the  summer.  You  will  pass  with  country 
folks  as  a  man  always  making  sermons,  while  you  are  only 
considering  a  Weed.  I  thank  you  for  your  learned  disserta- 
tion on  the  Canker  or  Stinkpot.  I  knew  in  general  that  all 
flesh  was  grass,  but  I  did  not  know  that  grass  was  flesh 
before." 

Other  more  practical  matters,  however,  than  botany 
engaged  attention  at  Selborne  sometimes ;  as  appears 


150  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1766 

from    the    following    rather    curious    entry   in   the 
Garden  Kalendar : — 

"  Ap.  26.  Finished  moving  my  barn,  which  I  set  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  orchard.  It  began  to  move  on  Thursday 
the  17,  and  went  with  great  ease  by  the  assistance  of 
about  8  men  for  that  little  way  that  it  went  in  a  straight 
line:  but  in  general  it  moved  in  a  curve,  and  was  turned 
once  quite  round,  and  half  way  round  again.  .  .  .  The  barn 
is  40  feet  long." 

"June  18.  Received  a  Hogsh.  of  port  from  Southton 
between  Mr.  Yalden  and  myself." 

On  July  3rd,  1766,  Mulso  recurs  to  his  friend's 
matrimonial,  or  perhaps  more  strictly  non- matri- 
monial, intentions.  He  was  entertaining  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thomas  Mulso  and  Mrs.  Chapone  at  Selborne. 

"These  summer  Visitants  of  your's  are  great  hindrances 
to  a  certain  scheme,  which  you  once  told  me  should  be 
soon  undertaken,  if  it  ever  was  to  be  undertaken  at  all. 
It  was  a  scheme  to  prevent  your  marrying  your  maid 
when  you  was  sixty  or  seventy.  I  shall  not  let  you  go 
above  a  year  or  two  more,  before  I  begin  to  take  the  other 
side  of  the  question,  and  inveigh  against  your  undertaking 
this  yoke  of  wedlock  at  all;  and  that,  because  the  chances 
will  go  more  against  you,  whether  you  may  or  may  not 
live  to  see  your  children  Christianly  and  virtuously  brought 
up.  .  .  .  Come,  my  dear  friend,  time  is  precious.  Somehow 
it  has  entered  into  my  head  that  I  shall  not  stay  long  in 
this  country.  Let  me  have  the  satisfaction  of  showing  to 
you  a  very  pretty  part  of  it." 

The  Garden  Kalendar  continued  as  usual  during 
this  year  (1766),  but  its  author  composed  in  addi- 
tion what  he  termed — 


1767  FLOKA  SELBOENIENSIS  151 

"Flora  Selborniensis 

with  some  coincidences  of 

the  coming  and  departure  of  birds  of  passage 

and  insects ;  and  the  appearing  of 

Keptiles 

for  the  year  1766." 

"  The  Plants  are  according  to  Mr.  Ray's  method ;  and  the 
Birds  according  to  Mr.  Willughby's  ornithology ;  the  Insects 
according  to  Ray's  *  Hist.  Insect ' ;  and  the  Reptiles  according 
to  Ray's  *  Synopsis  Animalium  Quadrupedum.' " 

The  matter  of  this  little  work  is,  both  as  regards 
the  botany  and  zoology,  of  a  much  more  elementary 
character  than  was  eventually  attained  to  in  'The 
Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  yet  it  is  interesting 
as  showing  the  first  idea  of  an  'Annus  Historico- 
Naturalis,'  which  afterwards  took  shape  in  its 
author's  mind. 

On  April  13th,  1767,  John  Mulso  became,  by  the 
collation  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Vicar  and 
Rector  of  Witney,  Oxfordshire.  While  congratu- 
lating his  friend  that  their  communications  would 
now  be  more  easy,  he  regrets  his  never  having 
seen  Thornhill.  The  letter  is  signed  "affectionately 
yours  (as  the  Bishop  calls  me)  Witney  John." 

This  summer  is  remarkable  for  the  commencement 
of  the  correspondence  with  Pennant,  the  first  letter 
being  dated  August  10th,  1767.^     This  letter,  with 

*  The  date  is  given  as  August  4th  in  '  The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,' 
for  which  this,  with  other  letters,  was  transcribed.  For  some  reason  (or 
perhaps  for  no  reason)  the  dates  of  the  original  letters  were  changed  in  many 
instances  by  their  author  when  preparing  them  for  publication. 


152  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  mr 

some  excisions,  became  the  tenth  in  'The  Natural 
History  of  Selborne,'  the  first  nine  letters  describing 
Selborne  and  its  neighbourhood  being  written  sub- 
sequently for  the  book.  On  the  18  th  of  the  preced- 
ing April  Gilbert  White  had  gone  to  London,  and 
perhaps  he  had  been  then  introduced  to  Pennant  by 
his  brother  Benjamin,  who  was  Pennant's  publisher. 

At  this  time  Thomas  Pennant,  a  Flintshire  gentle- 
man of  good  family  and  fortune,  and  with  literary 
tastes,  was  forty-one  years  of  age.  In  the  year  1755 
he  had  commenced  a  correspondence  with  Linnaeus, 
and  in  1761  had  published  the  first  (folio)  edition  of 
his  'British  Zoology.'  On  February  25th,  1767,  he 
had  been  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Koyal  Society,  and 
he  mentions  in  his  '  Literary  Life,'  published  in 
1793,  that  Mr.  Benjamin  White,  bookseller,  pro- 
posed to  me  the  republication  of  the  'British 
Zoology,'  which  was  carried  into  effect  in  the 
succeeding  year  (1768). 

The  original  letter  of  August  10th,  1767,  ad- 
dressed " —  Pennant,  Esq.,  at  Downing,  in  Flint- 
shire, North  Wales,"  commenced — 

August  10,  1767. 

At  Selborne,  near  Alton,  Hants. 

Sir, — Nothing  but  the  obhging  notice  you  were  so  kind 
as  to  take  of  my  trifling  observations  in  the  natural  way, 
when   I   was  in  town   in  the  spring,*  and  your  repeated 

*  From  this  sentence  one  would  naturally  infer  a  personal  introduction  to 
Pennant.  Yet  this  seems  to  be  distinctly  negatived  by  a  remark  of  Gilbert 
White's  in  his  original  letter  to  Pennant  of  28th  February,  1769,  and  by 
another  in  the  original  letter  of  30th  March,  1771. 


1767  FIKST   LETTEE   TO   PENNANT  153 

mention  of  me  in  some  late  letters  to  my  brother,  could 
have  emboldened  me  to  have  entered  into  a  correspondence 
with  you :  in  which  though  my  vanity  cannot  suggest  to  me 
that  I  shall  send  you  any  information  worthy  your  attention, 
yet  the  communication  of  my  thoughts  to  a  gentleman  so 
distinguished  for  these  kinds  of  studies  will  unavoidably  be 
attended  with  satisfaction  and  improvement  on  my  side. 

The  letter  concludes  with  a  line  or  two  concerning 

tlie  Falco  which  it  mentions,  and  is  subscribed — 

"  I  am,  with  the  greatest  regard, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Gil.  White." 

In  his  edition  of  'The  Natural  History  of  Sel- 
borne"^  Mr.  Bell  has  commented  in  rather  severe 
terms  upon  the  conduct  of  Pennant,  whom  he 
terms  "vain  and  self-seeking,"  towards  his  dis- 
tinguished correspondent;  and  he  is  in  error  when 
he  states  that  "  there  is  no  acknowledgement  of  his 
help,  no  recognition  of  his  debt,"  since  the  "Rev. 
Mr.  White  of  Selborne,  Hants,"  is  mentioned  among 
the  "  learned  and  ingenious  friends  "  to  whom  Pen- 
nant acknowledges  his  indebtedness  in  the  Preface 
to  the  second  (1st  8vo)  edition  of  the  '  British 
Zoology,'  published  in  1768. 

On  the  whole,  though  of  course  there  is  no 
comparison  between  the  information  afforded  by  the 
original  and  scholarly  Naturalist  of  Selborne,  and 
that  of  his  industrious,  but  perhaps  a  little  too 
complacent  correspondent,  the  relations  between  the 


*  vol.  i.  p.  Ixi.  et 


L 


154  GTLBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  i767 

two  seem  only  to  have  been  pleasant.  One  little 
cloud  arose,  however,  as  will  appear  later  on,  when 
Pennant  seemed  to  be  reluctant  to  part  with  certain 
drawings  of  some  of  John  White's  natural  history 
specimens,  intended  to  illustrate  the  latter's  'Fauna 
Calpensis.' 

On  July  21st,  1767,  Mulso  exhorted  his  friend  to 
leave  his  Tihurni  lucum,  and  deign  to  visit  him  at 
Witney.  He  wrote  again  on  October  13th,  with  the 
information  that  Mr.  Frewen,  the  Kector  of  Cromhall, 
was  dead. 

"  This  you  will  have  known  I  presume  by  a  speedier 
intelligence.  But  it  is  not  so  much  the  thing  itself,  as  the 
inferences,  that  affect  me.  You  are  said  to  be  likely  to  take 
his  living.  If  you  do,  two  or  three  things  will  happen.  You 
will  come  soon  to  Oxford,  tho'  you  are  not  pressed  in  time. 
You  will  keep  a  curate  on  that  living,  and  therefore  not  be 
so  tied  by  the  leg,  as  you  now  are  by  your  serving  a  curacy 
yourself;  a  circumstance  very  hateful  to  a  man  whose  in- 
quisitive genius  makes  him  love  to  change  the  scene  often 
and  search  for  curiosities  in  various  regions.  This  Living  is 
in  Gloucestershire,  as  I  understand :  I  lye  in  the  very  road, 
so  that  upon  the  whole,  I  conclude  from  these  inferences, 
I  may  see  you  soon,  and  I  may  see  you  often.  I  shall  have 
you  routed  out  of  that  Eecess  of  Selbourne,  where  your 
affections  are  too  much  engrossed  for  yourself,  and  your 
friends  at  a  distance. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  this  is  not  the  best  living  of  the  College ; 
but  nevertheless  I  think  I  collected  by  our  last  confabula- 
tion, that  you  was  inclined  to  secure  to  yourself  the  first 
thing  that  fell,  and  get  rid  of  your  Fellowship  before  your 
Fellowship  got  rid  of  you." 


1767  THE  HAKVEST  MOUSE  155 

The  writer  rightly  concluded  that  his  friend  would 
come  and  visit  him  at  Witney,  whence  he  "rode 
out  on  purpose  to  look  after  the  base  hore-hound, 
the  stachys  fuchsii  of  Ray,  which  that  gent,  says 
grows  near  Witney  Park."  Possibly  he  was  more 
interested  in  botany  than  in  the  advantages  of  the 
Rectory  of  Cromhall,  since  he  did  not  accept  that 
preferment.  At  this  time  he  made  entries  in  the 
Garden  Kalendar  of  a  point  in  natural  history 
which  never  escaped  his  attention,  and  to  which  he 
constantly  recurred — the  late  appearance  of  swallows. 

"  Oct.  29.  Saw  four  or  five  swallows  flying  round  and 
settling  on  the  County  Hospital  at  Oxon." 

"Nov.  12.  Bro.  Benj"  saw  a  Marten  flying  in  Fleet  Street." 

In  December,  1767,  a  very  interesting  entry  occurs 

I   respecting  the  harvest  mouse,  which  Gilbert  White 

was  the  first  to  discover  and  describe  in  this  country. 

"  Dec.  4.  Sent  two  field  mice,  a  species  very  common  in 
these  parts  (tho'  unknown  to  the  Zoologists)  to  Thomas 
Pennant,  Esq.  of  Downing  in  Flintshire.  They  resemble 
much  in  colour  y®  mus  domesticus  tnedius  of  Ray;  but  are 
smaller  than  the  mus  domesticus  vulg.  seu  minor  of  the  same 
great  Naturalist.  They  never  enter  houses ;  are  carryed  into 
ricks  and  barns  with  y®  sheaves;  abound  in  harvest;  and 
build  their  nests,  composed  of  the  blades  of  corn,  up  from 
the  ground  among  the  standing  wheat;  and  sometimes 
in  thistles.  They  breed  as  many  as  eight  young  at  one 
time." 

Pennant  availed  himself  readily  of  his  corre- 
spondent's  information.     He   has   been   blamed   by 


156  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1768 

Mr.  Bell  for  not  giving  his  friend  the  credit  of  the 
discovery ;  but  he  did  attribute  it  to  Gilbert  White 
in  the  second  edition  of  his  'British  Zoology.' 

At  the  commencement  of  1768,  the  Garden 
Kalendar,  which  up  to  this  date  had  been  written 
on  quarto  letter-paper,  changes  its  form ;  being  re- 
placed by  an  oblong  book.  The  Naturalist's  Journal, 
which  was,  its  owner  records  therein,  *'  The  gift  of 
the  Honourable  Mr.  Barrington,  the  Inventer." 
Benjamin  White  was  the  publisher. 

The  pages  of  this  book  have  printed  headlines 
over  ruled  spaces.  Forms  have,  indeed,  some  ad- 
vantages ;  but  they  are  certainly  liable  to  too  much 
elaboration,  being,  like  some  other  things,  good 
servants  but  bad  masters.  It  is  noticeable  that  at 
first  the  compiler  was  scrupulous  to  keep  exactly 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  dividing  lines ;  but 
gradually,  and  to  the  distinct  advantage  of  his  | 
records,  he  overstepped  them,  and  gave  the  most 
space  to  the  matters  that  most  engaged  his  atten- 
tion ;  and  as  years  went  on  even  used  blank  leaves 
for  any  special  matter.  The  records  continued,  as 
in  former  years,  to  be  of  the  most  varied  descrip- 
tion. In  addition  to  natural  history  observations  (of 
which  those  on  insects  become  more  frequent),  con- 
taining in  the  rough  very  many  of  the  facts  from 
which  he  composed  his  book,  he  notes  family  events, 
visits  to  and  from  his  friends,  his  garden  produce, 
the  appearance  of  his  neighbours'  crops  and  their 
methods  of  cultivation.      In   short,    the   book  con- 


1768 


PROVOST  OF   ORIEL  DIES  157 


tinues  to  deserve  the  name  of  '  The  Journal  of 
Adam  in  Paradise.' 

On  January  30th,  1768,  a  report  of  the  death 
of  the  Provost  of  Oriel  caused  Mulso  to  write  in 
haste  with  the  news  to  his  friend,  in  the  hope 
that  at  least  it  might  bring  him  up  to  Oxford  and 
his  neighbourhood.  The  report  proved  true.  Pro- 
vost Musgrave  having  been  found  dead  in  his  room 
on  January  29th. 

Gilbert  White  went  to  Oxford  from  London, 
where,  as  usual  at  this  time  of  year,  he  was  visit- 
ing his  brothers  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
stood  again  for  the  Provostship,  to  which  Dr.  John 
Clarke  was  elected  on  February  12th,  1769. 

The  commencement  of  the  original  letter  to 
Pennant"^  of  March  30th,  1768,  which  became 
Letter  XV.,  contains  an  invitation  to  that  gentle- 
man, who  was  contemplating  a  visit  to  see  the  moose 
deer  at  Goodwood,  to  visit  him  at  Selborne,  and 
offering  facilities  for  this.  The  visit  was  not,  how- 
ever, made. 

The  letter  ended — 

"When  your  sheets  containing  a  list  of  the  British  birds 
etc.  come  out,  you  will  gratify  me  much  by  your  sending  me 
one.  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  intend  to  continue  your  publica- 
tions in  the  natural  way.  My  relation  at  Gibraltar  had 
never  at  all  applyed  to  these  kind  of  studies,  and  has  no 
books  of  that  sort:  else  he  might  be  helpful  to  you  with 

*  The  more  interesting  unpublished  passages  of  these  letters  are  now 
printed. 


158  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1768 

regard  to  the  birds  of  Barbary  and  Andalusia.  Pray  give 
my  humble  respects  to  Mr.  Banks  and  tell  him  I  shall  not 
forget  him  next  month  with  regard  to  the  Lathrcea  Squam- 
maria.  If  he  will  do  me  the  honour  to  come  and  see  me 
he  will  find  how  many  curious  plants  I  am  acquainted  with 
in  my  own  Country.  I  request  also  that  you  will  be 
pleased  to  pay  my  compliments  and  thanks  to  Mr.  Barring- 
ton  for  the  agreeable  present  of  his  Journal,  which  I  am 
filling  up  day  by  day.     Buntings  I  saw  in  plenty  last  week." 

Letter  XVL,  written  on  April  ISth,  1768, 
commenced — 

"  As  I  had  set  my  mind  on  the  pleasure  of  your  conversa- 
tion, so  I  was  in  proportion  disappointed  when  I  found  that 
you  could  not  come.  But  as  your  business  may  be  over 
now,  I  shall  still  live  in  hopes  of  seeing  you  at  this  beautiful 
season,  when  every  hedge  and  field  abounds  with  matter  of 
entertainment  for  the  curious.  If  you  could  come  down  at 
the  end  of  this  week,  or  the  beginning  of  next,  I  should  be 
ready  to  partake  with  you  in  a  post-chaise  back  to  town  on 
the  second  of  May." 

On  June  2nd,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"I  hope  Mr.  Etty  rejoices  in  his  agreeable  accession  of 
preferment ;  I  wish  you  had  obtained  your  views  in  that 
neighbourhood." 

Mr.  Etty's  new  living  was  the  vicarage  of  Whit- 
churcli,  near  Pangbourne,  to  which  he  was  presented 
by  Lord  Chancellor  Camden.  Mulso's  hint  as  to 
his  friend's  views  referred,  as  appears  later  on,  to 
the  Oriel  living  of  Ufbon  Nervett  in  Berkshire.  In 
July  Gilbert  White  visited  his  brother  Harry  at 
Fyfield,  whose  rectory  there  was  the  "Gentleman's 
house,"  where,  he  tells  Pennant  (in  Letter  XVIII. ), 


1768 


CHOLDERTON  AGAIN  VACANT  159 


lie  had  neither  books  on  natural  history,  nor  leisure 
to  write. 

About  this  time  the  living  of  Cholderton,  Wilts, 
which  had  already  been  refused,  became  again  vacant. 

Mulso  writes  on  July  26th,  1768  : — 

"  I  long  to  know  your  determination  about  Cholderton ;  Dr. 
Bentham  was  of  opinion  that  you  would  take  it.  He  talked 
something  of  the  vicinity  of  it  to  Harry,  as  if  he  might 
avail  himself  of  your  curacy,  or  be  at  hand  to  take  the 
Parish  duties.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  you,  who  want  to 
make  Selborne  your  residence,  are  afraid  of  a  living  where 
your  residence  would  not  be  required  ?  This  is  one  of 
those  Paradoxes  in  which  you  have  always  delighted.  For 
it  does  not  follow  that  you  may  not  visit  your  Parishioners 
very  often,  though  you  do  not  inhabit  the  village ;  and  that 
is  more  than  you  did  at  More  ton  Pinkney.  If  you  once 
make  your  living  your  residence,  farewell  poor  Selborne ! 
Not  that  I  am  at  all  solicitous  about  your  taking  the  present 
thing,  if  you  have  a  good  prospect  of  the  Principal  Object*  of 
your  expectations  :  it  is  certain  that  you  can  very  well  wait, 
if  it  would  tally  at  last,  and  be  a  gainer  instead  of  a  loser." 

He  goes  on  to  say — 

"  Bon  voyage  to  Mr.  Banks !  What  a  fund  of  entertain- 
ments will  he  have  laid  in  for  you,  if  he  lives  to  come 
back ! " 

The  nature  of  Gilbert  White's  acquaintanceship 
with  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Joseph)  Banks  does  not 
exactly  appear.  Writing  to  Pennant,  however,  on 
June  10th,  1768,  after  mentioning  that  while  in 
town  he  **was  often  in  company  with  your  friend 
Mr.  Harrington,"  he  continues — 

*  Ufton  Nervett  Rectory. 


160  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  nes 

"Even  Mr.  Banks  (notwithstanding  he  was  so  soon  to 
leave  the  kingdom  and  undertake  his  immense  voyage) 
afforded  me  some  hours  of  his  conversation  at  his  new  house, 
where  I  met  Dr.  Solander." 

Again,  in  another  letter  to  Pennant  under  date 
October  8th,  1768=^  — 

"  I  met  with  a  paragraph  in  the  newspapers  some  weeks 
ago  that  gave  me  some  odd  sensations,  a  kind  of  mixture  of 
pleasure  and  pain  at  the  same  time.  It  was  as  follows : 
'  On  the  6th  day  of  August,  Joseph  Banks  Esq.,  accompanyed 
by  Dr.  Solander,  Mr.  Green  the  astronomer,  &c.,  set  out  for 
Deal  in  order  to  embark  aboard  the  *  Endeavour,'  Captain 
Cook,  bound  for  the  South  Seas.' 

"  When  I  reflect  on  the  youth  and  affluence  of  this  enter- 
prizing  gentleman  I  am  filled  with  wonder  to  see  how  con- 
spicuously the  contempt  of  dangers,  and  the  love  of  excelling 
in  his  favourite  studies  stand  forth  in  his  character.  And 
yet  though  I  admire  his  resolution,  which  scorns  to  stoop  to 
any  difficulties;  I  cannot  divest  myself  of  some  degree  of 
solicitude  for  his  person.  The  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe  is  an  undertaking  that  must  shock  the  constitution 
of  a  person  inured  to  a  sea-faring  life  from  his  childhood ; 
and  how  much  more  that  of  a  landman !  May  we  not 
hope  that  this  strong  impulse,  which  urges  forward  this 
distinguished  naturalist  to  brave  the  intemperance  of  every 
climate,  may  also  lead  him  to  the  discovery  of  something 
highly  beneficial  to  mankind?  If  he  survives,  with  what 
delight  shall  we  peruse  his  Journals,  his  Fauna,  his  Flora ! 
If  he  falls  by  the  way,  I  shall  revere  his  fortitude,  and 
contempt  of  pleasures,  and  indulgences:  but  shall  always 
regret  him,  though  my  knowledge  of  his  worth  was  of  late 
date,  and  my  acquaintanceship  with  him  but  slender." 

•  These  passages  occur  in  the  original  letters  to  Pennant,  which  became 
Letters  XVII.  and  XX.  of  '  The  Natural  History  of  Selborne.' 


1768 


VOYAGE   OF  JOSEPH   BANKS  161 


In  November  of  the  same  year  he  again  writes  : — 

"Poor  Mr.  Banks!  his  undertakings  are  virtu  in  excess; 
and  I  could  almost  wish  he  had  followed  your  advice,  and 
sent  a  proxy.*  But  then  he  would  have  foregone  the 
honour  and  praise  due  to  such  a  disinterested  hazarding 
of  his  life;  which  a  very  sensible  man  the  other  day  told 
me  much  more  merited  a  peerage  than  the  enterprise 
undertaken  by  Lord  Anson." 

On  December  8th,  1769,  writing  to  Pennant,  he 
refers  to  the  difficulties  which  the  expedition  had 
experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment : — 

"It  is  grievous  to  see  from  Dr.  Solander's  letter  in  the 
'Gentleman's  Magazine'  dated  from  Eio  de  Janeiro  with  what 
insolence  the  Viceroy  of  Brazil  treated  those  gentlemen 
who  have  hazarded  their  lives  in  the  pursuit  of  natural 
knowledge;  and  this  is  not  the  worst  of  it:  for  when  they 
arrive  in  the  South  Seas  their  reception  will  be  just  the 
same  from  every  Spanish  Governor  from  Chile  to  Mexico." 

Mr.  Banks'  safe  return  in  1771  is  referred  to  in 
letters  to  the  same  correspondent  of  July  and 
September  of  that  year. 

A  short  letter  to  Mr.  Banks  from  Gilbert  White, 
dated  April  21st  1768,  is  printed  by  Mr.  Bell,t  in 
which  he  regrets  that  his  correspondent  and  Mr. 
Pennant  could  not  visit  him  at  that  time,  "but  now 
it  seems  that  I  must  plod  on  by  myself  with  few 

*  Pennant  paid  the  Rev.  George  Low  to  explore  Orkney  and  Shetland 
for  him  in  1774  and  1778. 

t  Vide  Bell's  edition  of  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborue,'  vol.  ii.  pp. 
241-242. 

VOL.  I. — M 


162  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1768 

books  and  no  soul  to  communicate  my  doubts  and 
discoveries  to."  He  concludes  by  wishing  Mr.  Banks 
''all  health  and  a  great  deal  of  success  and  satisfac- 
tion in  your  laudable  pursuits,  a  prosperous  voyage 
and  a  safe  return." 

Keturning  to  the  unpublished  passages  from  the 
original  letter  to  Pennant;  Letter  XVII  of  June 
1 8th  (lOth  in  the  original  letter),  1768,  continued — 

"I  am  now  to  return  you  my  warmest  thanks  for  your 
agreeable  present  of  the  'British  Zoology,'*  which  I  accept 
with  great  satisfaction  as  a  token  of  your  friendship :  and 
shall  look  upon  your  work  as  an  ornament  to  my  little  shelf 
of  natural  history.  As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  compare 
any  animals  with  your  descriptions,  I  find  them  just  and 
apt;  and  such  as  may  readily  help  the  reader  to  ascertain 
any  quadrupede  or  bird  that  falls  in  his  way." 

On    August    17th,     1768,    what    became    Letter 

*  This  was  the  secoTid  edition,  of  which,  at  Benjamin  White's  proposal, 
Pennant  (see  his  'Literary  Life,'  p.  8)  this  year  published  with  him  two 
volumes  containing  the  quadrupeds  and  birds — a  third  volume,  including 
the  reptiles  and  fishes,  appearing  in  1769.  In  the  Preface  the  author  grate- 
fully acknowledges  the  information  received  among  others  from  Gilbert 
White,  and  in  the  Appendix  (p.  498),  which  must  have  been  written  in 
1767,  gives  an  account,  almost  in  the  latter's  words,  of  the  "  non-descript 
species  [of  field-mouse]  communicated  to  us  this  year  by  the  rev.  Mr.  White 
of  Selborne,  Hants,"  besides  mentioning  him  (p.  500)  in  connection  with  the 
tame  bat  and  the  falcon,  as  related  by  him  in  his  letters  of  August- 
November,  1767.  A  fourth  and  supplementary  volume  (often  called  the 
"third  edition")  was  published  three  years  later  (see  note,  p.  176,  to  letter  of 
12th  May,  1770).  Herein  Pennant  again  refers  to  Gilbert  White  giving  his 
observations  on  migrating  swallows  seen  on  Michaelmas  Day,  1768. 

The  key  to  nearly  all  the  subsequent  letters  to  Pennant  is  that  White  was 
continually  furnishing  information  additional  to  that  contained  in  the  second 
edition  of  the  '  British  Zoology.'  This  information  was  eventually  incor- 
porated in  the  ^'fourth'*  edition,  published  in  two  forms  (4to  and  8vo)  in 
1776,  of  which  Gilbert  White,  while  in  London,  himself  corrected  the  proofs 
(see  note  to  letter  to  John  White  of  26th  February  of  that  year). — A.  N. 


1768  SWALLOWS  AND   SWIFTS  163 

XIX.    was    addressed    from    Selborne    to    Pennant. 
The  letter  originally  contained  the  following  pass- 


ages : — 


"I  wrote  to  you  about  the  25th  of  July,  and  hope  my 
letter  reached  you,  as  it  was  directed  to  Sir  E[oger]  Mostyn 
as  usual.  In  that  letter  I  gave  you  an  account  that  I  had 
sent  the  fishes  of  our  streams  up  to  Mazel  to  be  engraved. 
You  had  in  it  also  a  pretty  exact  description  of  the  Ambres- 
bury  loach  taken  from  living  specimens  procured  from 
thence ;  my  sentiments  with  regard  to  the  use  of  toads  near 
Hungerford ;  and  my  suspicions  with  regard  to  the  water-eft." 

[Here  follows  the  paragraph  already  printed  at 
page   115.] 

"The  behaviour  of  the  antelope  which  you  saw  in  town, 
strongly  corroborates  my  suspicions  concerning  the  deer.  I 
desire  you  will  not  fail  to  procure  a  buck's  head  from 
Sir  R  M.  and  will  have  it  dissected  with  care.  I  could 
have  procured  one  with  ease  myself  'til  this  year :  but  now 
my  neighbour  Sir  Simeon  Stuart  has  destroyed  his  stock,  and 
turned  his  park  into  sheep-walks. 

"  The  first  young  swallows  appeared  on  July  4th,  and  the 
first  martins  began  to  congregate  on  the  bush  of  the  village 
maypole  on  July  23. 

"To  me  it  is  very  plain  that  the  first  swallows  and 
martins  that  congregate,  are  the  birds  of  the  first  brood, 
and  that  thro'  an  inability  of  flying  long  at  a  time.  For 
while  these  first  flyers  are  spending  as  much  time  on  a  may- 
pole, the  battlements  of  a  tower  &c. :  the  old  ones  are  busily 
employed  in  rearing  a  second  brood. 

"  The  swifts  have  never  been  seen  with  us  since  Aug.  5th, 
and  I  conclude  will  come  no  more  this  season.  I  am  always 
amazed  that  this  species  should  constantly  depart  so  many 
months  before  their  congeners.     It  is  worth  our  remarking 


164  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOR]SrE 


1768 


that  tho'  the  swift  is  at  its  arrival  of  a  dark  sooty  colour; 
yet  by  being  for  16  hours  together  almost  constantly  in  the 
sun  and  air,  it  becomes  before  its  departure  much  bleached, 
and  as  it  were  what  the  country  people  call  piss-burnt,  like 
an  old  weather-beaten  brown  wig :  and  yet  it  returns  sooty 
again  in  the  Spring.  N'ow  if  they  go  into  warm  regions 
during  our  winter,  why  do  they  not  return  sun-burnt,  as 
they  went  off  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  curious  enquiry  to  consider 
when  swifts  moult.  Change  their  feathers  here  they 
certainly  do  not:  and  if  they  have  as  much  occasion  for 
their  wings  while  absent,  as  while  here,  they  would  find  no 
opportunity  to  spare  several  feathers  at  a  time.  I  would 
not  pretend  to  lay  too  much  stress  on  these  reflections,  but 
certainly  can't  refrain  from  observing  that  they  tend  rather 
to  make  one  suspect  that  they  hide,  rather  than  migrate — 
at  least  for  part  of  the  long  time  they  are  absent  from  us ; 
and  perhaps  at  that  juncture  they  moult." 

Letter  XX.  to  Pennant,  dated  October  8th,  1768, 
began — 

"Your  letter  of  September  6th  gave  me  a  great  deal  of 
entertainment  and  satisfaction ;  and  the  more  satisfaction 
because  I  really  began  to  fear  from  your  long  and  unusual 
silence  that  you  might  be  prevented  from  writing  by  sickness 
or  some  accident  that  might  have  befallen  you  in  your 
Caernarvon  tour.  But  as  I  much  esteem  your  friendly  cor- 
respondence already,  I  desire  you  will  not  make  use  of  any 
such  methods  of  enhancing  the  value  of  it  for  the  future. 

"  I  receive  your  kind  invitation  into  Flintshire  as  a  fresh 
instance  of  your  friendly  disposition  towards  me;  but  whether 
my  health,  or  the  want  of  command  of  my  time  will  ever 
permit  me  to  gratify  myself  with  so  pleasing  a  tour  and 
visit,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say ;  however  I  depend  much  on 
having  it  in  my  power  to  give  you  a  meeting  in  town  next 
spring :  and  it  would  be  a  matter  of  high  entertainment  and 


1768  NATUKALISTS   HAPPY   MEN  165 

instruction  to  me  to  be  able  to  accompany  you  in  your 
pursuits  after  natural  knowledge." 

Letter  XXL  to  Pennant,  written  at  this  time, 
November  28th,   1768,  originally  commenced — 

"  Your  obliging  and  communicative  letter  of  October  23rd 
lies  before  me;  and  ought  not  any  longer  to  remain  un- 
tmswered.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  find  that  amidst 
your  various  and  extensive  correspondence,  and  the  daily 
labours  of  your  work  in  hand,  you  still  afford  time  to  pay 
regard  to  my  trifling  remarks,  and  discoveries ;  which  a  man 
cannot  avoid  stumbling  upon  now  and  then,  if  he  lives 
altogether  in  the  country,  and  gives  any  attention  at  all 
to  the  works  of  Nature.  Happy  the  man!  who  knows, 
like  you,  how  to  keep  himself  innocently  and  usefully 
employed ;  especially  where  his  studies  tend  to  the  advance- 
ment of  knowledge,  and  the  benefit  of  Society.  And  happy 
would  it  be  for  many  more  men  of  fortune  if  they  knew 
what  to  do  with  their  time;  if  they  knew  how  to  shun 
'  the  pains  and  penalties  of  Idleness,'  how  much  dissipation, 
riot,  and  excess  would  they  escape;  not  without  the  com- 
placency of  finding  themselves  growing  still  better  neigh- 
bours, and  better  commonwealths-men  ? " 

Further  on  the  following  passage  occurs  : — 

"  I  have  also  written  to  my  South  country  correspondent 
in  Gibraltar,  and  urged  him  to  take  up  the  study  of  Nature  a 
little ;  and  to  habituate  his  mind  to  attend  to  the  migrations 
of  birds  and  fishes ;  and  to  the  plants,  fossils,  and  insects  of 
that  part  of  the  world.  I  have  also  sent  him  your  '  British 
Zoology'  that  he  may  see  what  is  going  on  at  home :  and  my 
Brother  has  sent  him  Eay's  Synopsis  avium  &  piscium, 
the  Systema  Naturce,  Eay's  Synop.  animalium  quadrup'^  &c. 
As  to  birds  I  fear  that  the  concourse  and  din  of  a  garrison 
will  not  prove  very  inviting  to  such  timid  animals:   and 


166  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  i769 

long  or  frequent  excursions  into  Andalusia  may  not  be 
allowed  of  by  the  bigotted  and  narrow-minded  Spaniards; 
nor  be  consistent  with  the  strict  and  rigid  discipline  of  a 
place  at  arms  surrounded  with  a  constant  blockade  of 
jealous  enemies.  However  I  could  earnestly  wish  to  see 
a  well  executed  Fauna  from  that  part  of  the  world. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  no  small  satisfaction  to  me  to  hear  that 
you  are  so  forward  in  your  work,  and  that  it  is  to  appear  in 
the  spring." 

Letter  XXII.  to  Pennant,  dated  January  2nd, 
1769,  contained  originally  the  following  passages  : — 

"In  your  letter  of  June  28th,  1768,  I  could  but  admire 
with  how  much  frankness  you  acknowledged  several  mis- 
takes in  your  'Zoology'  with  respect  to  some  birds  of  the 
Grallm  order.  Candor  is  a  very  essential  part  of  a  j 
]!^aturalist,  and  this  accomplishment  our  great  countryman 
Mr.  Eay  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree ;  and  that  rendered 
him  so  excellent. — If  a  man  was  never  to  write  on  natural 
knowledge  'til  he  knew  everything,  he  would  never  write  at 
all:  and  therefore  a  readiness  to  acknowledge  mistakes  on 
due  conviction  is  the  only  certain  path  to  perfection.  .  .  . 
I  often  take  up  your  *  Zoology '  for  an  hour,  and  entertain 
myself  with  comparing  your  descriptions  with  those  of  the 
authors  that  have  written  on  the  same  subject ;  and  am 
pleased  to  find  that  my  friend  has  thro'  the  whole  acquitted 
himself  so  much  to  advantage.  Your  treatise  in  particular 
on  migration  I  admire  much,  and  think  that  if  it  is  enlarged 
as  more  information  comes  in,  it  will  contribute  much  to 
the  advancement  of  natural  knowledge.  But  there  is  a 
passage  in  the  article  Goatsucker,  page  247,  which  you  will 
pardon  me  for  objecting  to,  as  I  always  thought  it  exception- 
able: and  that  is  'This  noise  being  made  cmly  in  its  flight, 
we  suppose  it  to  be  caused  by  the  resistance  to  the  air 
against  the  hollow  of  its  vastly  extended  mouth  and  throat 


1769  MULSO  ON  NATUKE  167 

for  it  flies  with  both  open  to  take  its  prey.'  Now  as  the  first 
line  appears  to  me  to  be  a  false  fact;  the  supposition  of 
course  also  falls  to  the  ground,  if  it  should  prove  so." 

The  passage  in  question  was  omitted  in  subsequent 
editions. 

Writing  to  his  friend,  who  was  visiting  his  brother 
at  Fyfield,  on  January  28th,  1769,  Mulso  says  : — 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Harry  enjoys  the  blessing  of 
increasing  and  multiplying:  for  tho'  it  makes  a  house 
strait,  it  makes  it  chearful.  This  you  know  tho'  still  a 
Batchelour;  for  no  man  is  more  free  to  fill  his  house,  than 
yourself.  ...  I  am  not  at  all  surprized  at  the  pleasure 
you  take  in  your  pursuits  of  natural  knowledge.  I  know 
nothing  more  capable  of  satisfying  the  curiosity  of  the  human 
mind  which  is  always  searching  after  novelty,  for  the  subject 
is  inexhaustible.  ...  I  shall  endeavour  to  remember  to  say 
Laurustinus  hereafter,  and  you  may  farther  inform  me  how 
I  may  with  propriety  use  it  in  the  plural  number." 

The  original  letter  to  Mr.  Pennant,  which  was 
written  at  this  time,  February  28th,  1769,  and 
became  Letter  XXIII.  of  *The  Natural  History  of 
Selborne,'  commenced  with  these  paragraphs  : — 

"Dear  Sir, — Some  avocation  or  business  of  one  kind  or 
another  has  still  prevented  my  paying  that  attention  to 
your  kind  letter  of  Jan.  22 :  which  it  deserved.  As  at 
the  close  of  that  letter  you  invite  me  in  a  most  obliging 
manner  to  come  and  spend  some  time  in  Flintshire;  that 
paragraph  seems  to  challenge  my  first  attention.  You  will 
not,  I  hope,  suspect  me  of  flattery  when  I  assure  you  that 
there  is  no  man  in  the  kingdom  whom  I  should  visit  with 
more  satisfaction.  For  as  our  studies  turn  the  same  way, 
and  we  have  been  so  well  acquainted  by  a  long  and  com- 
municative correspondence,  I  trust  we  should  relish  each 


168  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1769 

others  conversation,  and  be  soon  as  well  acquainted  in 
person  as  by  letter.  Besides  your  part  of  the  world  would 
not  be  without  its  charms  from  novelty ;  as  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  the  N.W.  part  of  this  island  any  farther 
up  than  Shrewsbury.  Your  improvements,  your  mines, 
your  fossils,  your  botany,  your  shores,  your  birds,  would 
all  be  matter  of  the  highest  entertainment  to  me.  But 
then  how  am  I  to  get  at  all  these  pleasures  and  amuse- 
ments? I  have  neither  time  nor  bodily  abilities  adequate 
to  so  long  a  journey.  And  if  I  had  time  I  am  subject 
to  such  horrible  coach-sickness,  that  I  should  be  near  dead 
long  before  I  got  to  Chester.  These  difficulties,  I  know, 
will  be  matter  of  great  mirth  to  you,  who  have  travelled 
all  over  Europe ;  but  they  are  formidable  to  me.  As  there- 
fore the  man  cannot  come  to  the  mountain,  I  hope  the 
mountain  (since  friendship  will  effect  strange  things)  will 
come  to  the  man :  I  hope  you  will  have  it  in  your  power 
to  meet  me  in  London,  and  that  you  will  gratify  me  with  an 
opportunity  of  waiting  on  you  to  Selborne." 

In  April  a  visit  was  paid  to  London,  where  amuse- 
ment was  found  for  several  days  in  observing  and 
noting  all  the  different  fish  in  the  market. 

A  letter  to  Pennant  of  May  29th,  1769,  which 
became  Letter  XXIV.,  commenced  as  follows : — 

"Dear  Sir, — When  your  agreable  but  tardy  letter  of 
April  22nd  arrived  at  this  place,  I  was  in  London:  but  it 
was  sent  up  after  me.  It  gave  me  concern  to  hear  you  had 
been  a  good  while  indisposed ;  and  satisfaction  to  find  that 
you  are  recovered. 

"The  great  honors  that  have  befallen  you  at  Drontheim 
call  for  my  congratulations.*  You  must  heartily  believe  now 

*  Writing  of  1769  Pennant  says  ('Literary  Life,' p.  11):  "In  the  same 
year  I  received  a  very  polite  letter  from  the  reverend  Jo.  Ernest  Gunner^ 
bishop  of  Drontheim  in  Norway,  informing  me  that  I  had  been  elected 
member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  on  March  the  9th  past ;  of  whicli 


1769  DAINES   BAREINGTON  169 

in  the  accounts  given  by  Pontoppidan  of  the  kraken,  and 
sea-snake:  if  you  should  express  any  disrespect  towards 
these  two  remarkable  animals,  I  don't  know  but  they  may 
remove  you  from  y®  society  as  an  unworthy  Brother." 

On  June  30th  of  this  year,  1769,  the  first  letter  to 
the  Hon.  Daines  Barrington,  to  whom  no  less  than 
sixty-six  letters  were  published  as  addressed,  was 
written  by  Gilbert  White. 

This  gentleman,  who  has  been  described  as  "a 
queer  compound  of  the  lawyer,  antiquary,  and 
naturalist,"  was  son  of  the  first  Viscount  Barrington. 
Born  in  1727,  he  went  to  Oxford,  was  called  to 
the  Bar,  and  became  a  Welsh  Judge,  and  subse- 
quently, in  1764,  Recorder  of  Bristol.  He  died 
in  1800.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  it  was  through  him  that  Gilbert  White's  account 
of  the  Hirundines  was  read  before  that  society  in 
February,   1774,  and  March,  1775. 

The  personal  acquaintance  with  Barrington  did  not 
begin  till  May,  1769,  when  they  met  in  London, 
though  more  than  a  year  before,  as  already  stated, 
Gilbert  White  received  from  him  the  printed 
Naturalist's  Journal;  for  an  unpublished  portion 
of  Letter  XIH.  to  Pennant,  dated  January  22nd, 
1768,  mentions — 

society  that  prelate  was  president."  It  would  seem  that  Pennant  lost  little 
time  in  communicating  this  fact,  of  which  he  had  every  reason  to  be  proud, 
to  his  correspondent,  and  the  humorous  turn  the  latter  gives  to  the  announce- 
ment is  eminently  characteristic  of  him.  The  marvellous  account  of  sea- 
monsters  given  by  Pontoppidan,  who  was  Bishop  of  Bergen,  in  his  Natural 
History  of  Norway  (vol.  ii.  pp.  297-354),  was  published  at  Copenhagen 
in  1753,  and,  through  the  English  translation  of  1755,  has  long  been 
notorious. — A.  N. 


170  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORlSrE  1769 

"Your  friend  Mr.  Barrington  (to  whom  I  am  an  entire 
stranger)  has  been  so  obliging  as  to  make  me  a  present 
of  one  of  his  Naturalist's  Journals,  which  I  shall  hope  to  fill 
in  the  course  of  the  year." 

It  was  to  Pennant,  then,  that  the  introduction  to 
Daines  Barrington  was  probably  owing, 

Barrington  gives  honourable  mention  to  his  friend 
and  correspondent  in  his  '  Miscellanies,'  published 
in  1781,  as  a  "well-read  and  observant  naturalist." 
And  Gilbert  White  returned  the  compliment  in 
Letter  LI.  to  him,  in  which  he  writes,  ''I  have  now 
read  your  '  Miscellanies '  through  with  much  care  and 
satisfaction." 

After  a  visit  to  Oxford  in  July,  1769,  when  he 
noticed  ''vast  flocks  of  young  wagtails  on  the  banks 
of  the  Cherwell,"  the  Naturalist  received  his  friends, 
Mr.  Skinner,  of  C.C.C,  Oxford,  and  Mr.  Sheffield,  of 
Worcester  College,  at  Selborne,  the  latter  of  whom, 
as  he  records,  "went  into  Wolmer  Forest  and  pro- 
cured me  a  green  sandpiper."  Of  this  visit  Mulso 
remarks  in  August  that  "the  world  will,  I  presume, 
be  the  better  hereafter  for  your  joint  labours." 

The  following  formed  the  commencement  of  what 
became,  when  revised.  Letter  XXV.,  September  1st, 
1769,  to  Pennant: — 

"I  am  to  acknowledge  my  tardiness  in  answering  your 
kind  Letter  of  June  9th,  and  have  to  plead  business,  work- 
men, and  company ;  and  yet  I  ought  not  to  have  been 
silent  for  so  many  weeks. 

"In   a  former  letter   of   May  the   9th   you   mention   a 


1769  NATUEALISTS  AT  SELBOENE  171 

thought  of  a  periodical  publication,  that  shall  receive  the 

;   various    pieces   of    natural    history   that    otherwise    might 

perish.     Not  being  conversant  in  such  undertakings,  I  am 

little  of  a  judge  whether  such  a  pamphlet  would  be  likely 

to  take;   and  am  fearful   that  the  very  occasion  of   your 

,   magazine  may  be  the  cause  of  its  not  succeeding :  for  amidst 

the  din  and  clamour  of  party  Rage,  the  still  small  voice 

of  Philosophy  will,  I  fear,  be  little  attended  to.     However, 

if  you  think  such  a  publication  expedient,  you  will  no  doubt 

I   get  considerable  assistance  from  your  friends ;  and  I  shall  be 

■i   ready  to  advance  my  mite:   but  then  I  shall  expect  you 

to  be  very  charitable  in  your  allowance,  and  to  grant  that 

:   my  mite  in  one  respect  is  equal  to  larger  contributions,  as 

it  is  all  my  stock  of  knowledge." 

The  letter  contained  also  the  following  passages  : — 

"  When  an  opportunity  occurs  I  shall  be  glad  to  look  into 
your  'Indian  Zoology.'  Mr.  Skinner  of  C.C.C.  and  Mr. 
Sheffield  of  Worcester  College  have  lately  been  with  me 
for  a  fortnight,  and  are  the  only  Naturalists  that  I  have 
ever  yet  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  at  my  house.  They  are 
both  excellent  botanists,  and  the  latter  makes  a  very  rapid 
progress  in  Entomology.  There  was  great  satisfaction  in 
walking  out  with  these  men :  because  no  bird,  plant,  or  insect 
came  before  them  unascertain'd.  One  day  we  shot  a  Tringa 
ochrophios*  which  is  a  very  rare  bird  in  these  parts.  .  .  . 

"There  appears  a  Comet  nightly  (having  a  tail  about 
six  degrees  in  length)  in  the  constellation  of  Aries,  between 
the  24 :  29 :  and  51  stars  of  that  constellation  in  the 
English  catalogue." 

On  October  28th,  1769,  the  Naturalist's  Journal 
contains  the  entry,  ''Mrs.  J.  W.  sailed"  on  her  return 

*  The  green  sandpiper  above  mentioned. — A.  N. 


172  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  i769 

to  Gibraltar.  This  was  his  brother  John's  wife.  She 
had  brought  to  England  her  only  child,  who  afterwards 
became  known  in  the  family  as  "Gibraltar  Jack." 

His  thoughts  were  evidently  turned  to  his  brother's 
collections  at  Gibraltar,  for  the  Naturalist's  Journal 
now  contains  **a  proper  antiseptic  substance  for  the 
preservation  of  birds,  etc.,"  together  with  directions 
for  applying  it,  and  also  a  quotation  from  Linnaeus' 
'Amoenit.  Academ.'  vol.  iv.,  as  **a  motto  for  my 
brother  John's  Naturalist's  Journal  kept  at  Gibraltar." 
And  again,  ''my  brother  John's  birds  are  preserved 
with  salt,  allom,  and  pepper." 

It  had  been  a  disappointment  that  an  intended 
visit  to  Selborne  by  John  Mulso  and  his  family  had 
been  given  up.  On  November  1st,  1769,  his  friend 
was  addressed — 

"  Dear  Gil, — You  are  a  man,  as  I  have  long  known,  so  very 
much  master  of  your  Passions,  and  so  guarded  in  your  be- 
haviour and  even  in  your  expressions,  that  when  I  see  a  little 
ebullition  I  guess  there  is  a  considerable  fire  beneath.  Thus  in 
your  letter  that  lies  before  me  I  see  that  you  was  more  than 
commonly  disappointed  in  not  having  my  wife's  and  daughter's 
Company  and  mine  at  Selborne  this  summer.  .  .  .  You 
hardly  now  know  what  you  ask,  when  you  ask  for  our 
Company,  and  for  a  good  while.  We  are  expensive  and  we 
are  troublesome  guests.  We  both  cry  out  *non  sum  qualis 
eram'  .  .  .  We  are  greasy,  sedentary,  potations  Inmates. 
Take  us  therefore  if  you  dare,  but  let  there  be  some  agree- 
able female  Companion  at  hand  to  sit  with  Mrs.  Mulso  in 
the  Bottom,  while  I  once  more  wheeze  and  sweat  to  arrive 
at  the  Top  of  the  charming  Hanger.     My  Jenny  will  be  an 


1770 


A  BAD  TRAVELLER  NOW  173 


almost  indefatigable  Companion,  and  an  assiduous  scholar  in 
your  botanic  searches :  you  have  already  taught  her  to  be 
peering  at  the  bottoms  of  old  walls,  tho'  a  S-r  R-v-rence 
lies  close  to  her  Foot.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  brother 
John  has  made  so  handsome  a  contribution  to  your  Feet 
Measure  of  nephews  and  nieces,  and  that  you  all  approve 
of  the  mother  of  the  boy.  I  wish  him  success,  and  do  not 
wonder  that  he  is  tired  of  the  Rock,  but  yet  I  think  that 
he  is  more  like  to  lay  up  there,  than  in  any  place  that  he 
can  change  for  in  England.  However,  he  is  an  Emeritus 
and  has  deserved  indulgence.  If  he  proceeds  as  a  southern 
naturalist,  he  ought  to  be  under  the  pay  of  his  brother  Ben ; 
for  he  has  had  fine  pickings  out  of  your  naturals — I  mean 
your  naturalists — of  late  years." 

The  original  of  Letter  XXVIL  to  Pennant,  written 
from  Selborne  on  February  22nd,  1770,  commenced 
as  follows  : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — In  the  first  place  I  am  to  acknowledge  your 
favour  of  Decem"^  23 :  which  I  had  no  proper  leisure  nor 
opportunity  of  answering  before  the  time  at  which  you 
proposed  to  leave  Flintshire.  I  am  also  to  express  my 
thanks  for  your  friendly  letter  of  last  week  from  London,  in 
which  you  press  me  to  give  you  a  meeting  in  town.  If 
nothing  was  wanting  but  inclination  I  should  with  pleasure 
have  set  out  before  now :  but  this  is  not  a  convenient  season 
for  me  to  be  from  home ;  and  I  am  now  become  a  very  bad 
traveller:  however,  I  will  endeavour  to  give  you  a  meeting 
if  possible.  .  .  ." 

The  letter,   as  printed  by  its   author,    concluded 

with  the  sentence — 

"  In  general,  foreign  animals  fall  seldom  in  my  way ;  my 
little  intelligence  is  confined  to  the  narrow  sphere  of  my 
own  observations  at  home." 


174  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1770 

In  the  original  there  followed — 
"  As  a  naturalist  I  may  say — 

' .  .  .  .  Ego  apis  matinge 

More  modoque 
Grata  carpentis  thyma  per  laborem 
Plurimum,  circa  nemus  uvidique 
Tiburis  ripas,  operosa  parvus 

.  .  .  fingo'"— 

a  favourite  quotation  from  Horace,  which  is  sometimes 
prefixed  to  the  year's  records  in  the  Naturalist's 
Journal.    Mulso  writes  again  on  March  18th,  1770  : — 

"  Your  time  is  near  to  have  a  call  to  Oriel,  and  I  hope  you 
will  take  some  time  for  a  visit  at  Witney.  You  may  there 
enliven  my  hours,  and  enlarge  my  ideas;  and  you  who 
ascertain  everything  may  ascertain  my  health,  for  I  am  but 
as  grass  and  as  the  flower  of  the  field.  .  .  .  The  secret  is  out 
with  regard  to  the  old  man  of  the  hill  My  wife  thought  it 
improbable  that  it  ever  would  be  brought  to  bear  that  she 
[Jenny  Mulso]  should  see  Harry  at  Selborne,  and  therefore 
she  explained  the  matter.  ...  I  was  sorry  that  my  wife 
judged  it  best  to  put  a  stop  to  her  inquisitiveness,  for  it  was 
innocent  and  often  ingenious;  but  her  speaking  of  this  to 
others,  and  our  being  obliged  to  disguise  the  truth  before 
her,  gave  us  the  air  of  Romancers.  However,  this  has  not 
taken  off  her  desire  of  seeing  your  Retreat." 

This  last  passage  settles  the  question   as  to  the 
identity  of  the  personator  of  the  Hermit  at  Selborne. 
Mulso  continues — 

"(If  you  can  let  me  know  that  a  vacancy  is  likely  to 
happen  in  the  Stalls  of  Winton,  it  would  be  good  news ;  for 
my  uncle  having  lately  provided  for  Mr.  Rennell,*  I  have 
hope  of  being  next  in  succession  ;  but  this  is  mb  sigillo.y 
*  His  domestic  chaplain. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

In  February,  1770,  Gilbert  White,  who  was  visiting 
his  brother  at  Fy field,  went  to  "  Charlton  in  Wilts," 
and  notes  in  his  Naturalist's  Journal  that  he 

"saw  Bustards  on  Sahsbury  Plain.  They  much  resemble 
fallow  deer  at  a  distance.  Partridges  pair.  Wild  Geese 
in  the  winter  do  great  damage  to  the  green  wheat  on 
Salisbury  Plain.  Grey  crows  are  not  seen  'til  we  come 
about  Andover  from  the  eastward.  As  you  go  thence 
westward  into  Wilts  they  abound.  Buntings  abound  in 
this  part  of  Wilts." 

This  spring  apparently  marks  the  first  record  of 
intention  to  collect  and  publish  his  observations  in 
natural  history,  since,  on  April  12th,  just  after 
making  his  usual  Oxford  journey,  he  wrote  to  Daines 
Barrington  : — 

"  When  we  meet,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  some  conversa- 
tion with  you  concerning  the  proposal  you  make  of  my 
drawing  up  an  account  of  the  animals  in  this  neighbour- 
hood. Your  partiality  towards  my  small  abihties  persuades 
you,  I  fear,  that  I  am  able  to  do  more  than  is  in  my  power : 
for  it  is  no  small  undertaking  for  a  man  unsupported  and 
alone  to  begin  a  natural  history  from  his  own   autopsia! 

175 


176  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1770 

Though  there  is  endless  room  for  observation  in  the  field 
of  nature  which  is  boundless,  yet  investigation  (where  a  man 
endeavours  to  be  sure  of  his  facts)  can  make  but  slow  pro- 
gress ;  and  all  that  one  could  collect  in  many  years  would 
go  into  a  very  narrow  compass."* 

Letter  XXVIII.  to  Pennant,  dated  in  the  original 
May  12th,  1770,  thus  commenced — 

"Dear  Sir, — A  journey  of  business,  which  detained  me 
longer  from  home  than  I  expected,  must  be  my  excuse  for 
neglecting  to  answer  your  letter  'til  this  time. 

"My  thanks  are  due  for  your  obliging  present  of  your 
last  publication ,-f  which  will  conduce  much  to  illustrate, 
and  improve  the  'British  Zoology':  the  designs  are  just 
and  the  attitudes  easy  and  natural;  and  the  plates  so  well 
engraved,  that  they  will  convey  a  much  more  adequate  Idea 
of  an  unknown  animal  to  a  young  naturalist  than  words 
possibly  can. 

"Tho'  you  are  embarked  in  a  more  extensive  plan  of 
natural  history,  yet  I  am  glad  to  find  that  you  do  by 
no  means  give  up  the  *Brit.[ish]  Zoology';  that  I  think 
should  be  your  principal  object;  and  I  hope  you  will  con- 
tinue to  revise  it  at  your  leisure,  and  to  retouch  it  over 
'til  you  have  rendered  it  as  perfect  as  the  nature  of  the 
work  will  admit  of.     If   people  that   live  in  the  country 

*   Vide  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter  V.  to  Barrington. 

t  This  must  have  been  the  103  plates  and  96  pages  of  text,  which  were  issued 
in  this  year  by  Pennant,  forming  (as  already  mentioned  p.  162,  in  the  note  to 
letter  of  10th  June,  1768)  what  has  been  called  the  ^^ third  edition"  of  the 
'  British  Zoology ' ;  but  being  in  reality  only  the  fourth  and  supplementary 
volume  of  the  second  edition.  It  was  printed  at  Chester  by  Eliz.  Adams, 
who  also  printed  the  third  volume  of  the  former  edition  ;  but,  unlike  that, 
does  not  bear  Benjamin  White's  name,  as  publisher,  in  the  title-page. 
Complete  copies  of  this  volume  are  by  no  means  common.  The  plates  well 
deserve  White's  praise  of  them.  They  are  not  signed,  but  were  presumably 
engraved  by  Mazel. — A,  N. 


1770 


FAMILY  LETTEES  177 


would  take  a  little  pains,  daily  observations  might  be  made 
with  respect  to  animals,  and  particularly  regarding  their  life 
and  conversation,  their  actions  and  oeconomy,  which  are  the 
i  life  and  soul  of  natural  history." 

From  the  period  of  Gilbert  White's  life  now- 
reached  there  is  extant  a  considerable  number 
of  his  letters,  chiefly  to  members  of  his  family. 
Most  of  them  are  here  given  ;  since,  especially  in 
the  case  of  such  an  uneventful  life,  there  can  be 
no  better  illustrations  of  their  author's  thoughts 
and  character.  Moreover,  now  that  all  those  who 
knew  him  have  long  passed  away,  there  is  really 
no  other  trustworthy  means  of  illustrating  his  career. 
These  letters  were  of  course  never  intended  for 
publication,  nevertheless  many  of  them  have  no 
little  literary  and  scientific  interest ;  while  all  of 
them  exhibit  their  author  as  a  kindly,  afiection- 
ate,  and  high-minded  man. 

It  should  perhaps  be  here  mentioned  that  many 
of  the  letters  in  question — but  by  no  means  all — 
were  lent  to  Mr.  Bell.  These  he  printed  in  what 
— originally  intended  to  be  an  appendix — became 
a  second  volume  of  his  edition  of  Gilbert  White's 
book.  In  some  cases,  unfortunately,  he  appended 
wrong  dates,  and  even  mistook  the  names  of  the 
persons  to  whom  the  letters  were  addressed. 
Moreover  some  omissions  occur  not  infrequently, 
and  there  are  errors  in  the  text. 

The  following  letter  is  printed  from  MS.  in  Gilbert 

VOL.  I. — N 


178  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1770 

White's  handwriting.    It  is  unsigned,  and  is  probably 
a  copy  kept  for  the  purpose  of  future  reference. 

To  the  Bev.  John  White* 

[Headed  "  Bro.  John."] 

(I.) 

Selborne,  May  26,  1770. 

Dear  Brother, — I  am  to  acknowledge  first  the  receipt  of 
your  kind  letter  of  Feb.  19,  which  I  should  have  answered 
before  now,  had  I  not  waited  for  your  box  of  curiosities; 
concerning  which  you  would  naturally  expect  I  should  give 
some  account.  Farther  obligations  are  now  due  for  a  second 
letter  of  April  14 ;  but  tho'  I  have  not  yet  received  the  box, 
I  must  no  longer  omit  to  take  notice  of  your  agreeable 
communications.  It  is  probable  the  box  may  be  in  London ; 
but  I  have  lately  intimated  that  I  would  not  wish  to  have 
it  sent  down  at  present,  as  I  hope  to  be  in  town  as  soon  as 
Whitsontide  is  over. 

Your  Vespae  with  purple  wings  are  a  beautiful  and  scarce 
species:  they  are  the  Vespce  crabroni  congeneres  in  Italia 
captce  of  Mr.  Willughby,  well  described  in  Bay's  *Hist. 
Insectorum,'  p.  250.  Pray  observe  what  they  feed  on ; 
and  enquire  into  their  manner  of  nidification.  Your 
butterfly-like  insect  with  long  remiform  wings  is  curious 
and  rare,  and  proves  to  be  the  Panorpa  coa  Lin.  You 
see  it  is  to  be  found  in  few  places;  and  Scopolif  knows 
nothing  of  it,  though  Carniola  lies  in  a  warm  latitude. 
Send  some  more  specimens.  Pray  observe  how  and  where 
they  breed.     I  suspect  much  that   they  come  from  the 

•  At  Gibraltar. 

t  This  refers  to  Scopoli's  *  Entomologia  Carniolica,'  published  at  Vienna 
in  1763,  and  not  to  his  'Annus  Primus  Historico-Naturalis,'  to  which  refer- 
ence is  often  made  by  Gilbert  White. — A.  N, 


1770  LETTER  TO   GIBRALTAR  179 

water,  where  they  perhaps  are  hatched  like  the  Ephemerce 

•   (may-flies)  and  the  Phryganece  (cadews). 

Here  it  will  he  proper  to  remark  that  Lin.  is  too  general 
in  some  of  his  assertions :  too  many  exceptions  occur  under 

:   his  general  rules :  as  you  must  have  already  observed  in  the 

i   course  of  your  reading  the  '  Syst.  Nat.' 

You  will  be  pleased  to  observe  whether  your  ant-catching 
Sphex  (for  a  Sphex  I  certainly  think  it  was,  though  we  soon 
lost  our  single  small  specimen)  does  not  carry  its  prey  to  its 

\  nest  in  order  to  feed  its  maggots:  in  and  with  what  sub- 

j  stance  does  it  make  its  nest  ?     I  have  named  it  Sphex  formi- 

\  carumfalco.  The  Insect  with  a  long  slender  petiolus  between 
the  thorax  and  abdomen  is  a  fine  sort  of  Ichneumon. 

Look  after  the  genus  of  birds  called  Petrels ;  they  are 
very  peculiar  in  their  way  of  life,  and  are  in  the  Atlantic ; 
perhaps  may  enter  the  Streights. 

I  am  glad  to  find  you  begin  to  relish  Linn:  there  is 
nothing  to  be  done  in  the  wide  boundless  field  of  natural 
history  without  system.    Now  you  are  master  of  the  ordines, 

j  you  must  attend  to  the  genera,  and  make  yourself  well 
acquainted  with  the  terms.  Study  well  the  introductions 
to  the  classes,  and  see  how  the  terms  are  explained. 

Look  still  for  the  Myrmeleon  (Hon  pismier)  'Syst.  Nat.' 
p.  913.*  It  has  jaws  like  a  wasp ;  4  pretty  long  palpi 
(feelers),  no  stemmata ;  pimples  like  crowns  on  its  head; 
antennae  clavatce ! !  Andalusia,  I  should  think,  must  pro- 
duce it. 

Your  embassy  to  Morocco,  when  well  drawn  up,  will 
make  a  good  chapter  in  your  History,  Did  you  make 
no  remarks  on  the  country?  You  are  to  remember  that 
you  will  want  an  abundance  of  matter  to  fill  up  200  or 
300   pages :    and  no   publication   will   make  a  respectable 


*  This  reference  is  to  the  twelfth  edition  of  the  '  Systema  Naturae,'  of  which 
the  two  parts  of  the  first  volume  were  published  in  1766  and  1767. — A.  N. 


180  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1770 

appearance  unless  you  can  swell  it  to  somewhat  of  such 
a  bulk. 

What  sorts  of  Land-tortoises  do  you  find :  when  do  they 
come  forth  and  when  do  they  hide  ? 

Have  you  no  stone-curlews  (Charadrius  cedicnemus)  ?  they 
certainly  leave  us  for  some  of  the  dead  months  of  winter. 

You  will,  I  hope,  settle  that  curious  article  concerning 
your  winter-martin.*  In  your  letter  of  November  last  you 
seemed  to  be  puzzled,  and  say  "  that  the  winter-martins  begin 
to  appear  in  a  different  dress :  they  are  blacker  on  the  back, 
and  whiter  under  the  belly  than  last  winter,"  and  "  that  you 
suspect  they  are  the  real  summer-martins  now  undergoing 
a  change  of  colour,  and  possibly  intending  to  winter  here 
in  a  browner  habit."  And  yet  in  your  letter  of  April  14th 
you  only  say  in  general, "  that  you  saw  (March  23)  swallows, 
martins,  and  your  brown  winter-martins  all  flying  together." 
This  most  curious  article  of  all  your  intelligence  will  not, 
I  hope,  remain  dubious  and  unsettled. 

Sure  you  must  mistake  when  you  say  in  your  Journal, 
April  15th,  1769,  "  that  the  vines,  though  their  shoots  are 
but  6  or  8  inches  long,  have  a  good  many  grapes  set." 
Do  you  not  mistake  the  buds  of  bloom  for  fruit?  Vines 
are  late  blowers  in  most  climates :  they  shew  the  rudiments 
of  bloom  with  us  in  April,  but  do  not  blow  'til  about 
July  1,  'til  the  shoots  are  two  or  three  feet  long.  When 
in  bloom  they  smell  sweetly. 

Are  not  some  of  your  foxes  jackalls  {Lupus  aureus)  ? 
That  animal  wants  to  be  better  described. 

Don't  be  too  hasty  in  pronouncing  any  species  a  non- 
descript. Scopoli  is  very  ingenious :  he  is  publishing  on 
birds. 

♦  This  was  the  Hirundo  rupestris  described  by  Scopoli  (*  Ann.  I.  Historico- 
Naturalis,'  p.  167)  in  the  preceding  year,  as  Gilbert  White  subsequently  found. 
It  is  the  Cotile  rupestris  of  modern  ornithologists,  the  rock  or  crag  martin. 
—A.  N. 


1770  VISIT  FEOM  MULSO  181 

Mr.  Pennant  has  heard  of  your  pursuits,  and  desires  to 
promote  them.  As  to  fishes,  he  says  you  must  get 
Briinnich's  history  of  those  of  Marseilles;  and  Gouan  on 
fish:  the  last  lives  at  Monpellier.  Can't  you  contrive  to 
correspond  with  him?  He  has  written  to  Mr.  Pennant. 
He  expects  the  birds  and  fishes  of  Leghorn  and  Naples 
soon,  and  is  ready  to  communicate  them. 

Mineralogy  must  not  be  neglected. 

In  order  to  assist  your  enquiries  Mr.  Pennant  sends  you 
a  list  of  such  animals  as  are  known  to  belong  to  the  southern 
parts  of  Europe.     Your  wine  proves  very  sound  and  good. 

In  June,  1770,  the  Naturalist  visited  his  relatives 
in  London,  noting  in  his  Journal  the  occurrence 
of  hinds  on  Bagshot  Heath  ;  and  later  in  the  summer 
received  his  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Mulso,  from 
Witney,  at  Selborne.  Mulso  proposed  to  proceed  to 
Alton,  where,  it  may  be  noted,  he  asked  that  "  some 
able  guide"  should  meet  him  at  the  Swan  Inn,  in 
order  to  conduct  him  through  the  devious  lanes  to 
Selborne. 

Writing  on  September  16th,  after  thanking  his 
old  friend  for  his  kindness  and  hospitality,  Mulso 
continues — 

"  My  daughter  has  learned  such  a  curiosity  from  you  about 
Zoology  and  its  Genera  that  nothing  but  providing  some 
'  Systema  Naturae '  hereafter  for  her  will  be  able  to  allay. 
If  any  errata  should  come  of  it  you  are  concerned  to  look 
to  them,  for  it  is  all  your  own  doing :  as  to  my  wife 
I  don't  believe  she  cares  a  farthing  about  the  Difference 
between  a  Penguin  and  the  Coleojptera.  ...  I  find  my 
garden  here  very  disgusting  to  me  after  the  extreme  neat- 
ness and  beautiful  grace  of  yours." 


182  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1770 

The    following   letter   to   Pennant   was   naturally 

not  included  in  those  published,  since  it   did   not 

relate  to  Selborne. 

Selborne,  July  12,  1770. 

Dear  Sir, — A  journey  to  London,  and  an  other  since,  from 
whence  I  am  but  just  returned,  have  prevented  my  paying 
that  attention  to  your  last  letter  that  I  could  have  wished. 

If  you  knew  how  little  I  had  to  communicate  to  you  with 
respect  to  specimens  from  Gibraltar*  'til  I  went  last  to 
town,  you  would  not  think  I  had  neglected  you :  for  'til  that 
time  I  had  only  received  two  muscicapm  and  three  insects. 
One  of  the  birds  proves,  I  find,  to  be  Edwards's  grey  red- 
start ;■[*  the  other,  which  has  a  white  forehead,  a  tawny 
occiput  and  scapulars,  black  wings,  a  white  rump,  and  black 
and  white  tail,  black  throat  and  cheeks,  a  tawny  breast,  and 
whitish  belly — I  cannot  at  present  ascertain.  I 

The  three  insects  were  a  Fanoiya  coa  ;  rare,  and  peculiar 
in  its  hind  wings !  a  large  fine  Vespa,  the  crahroni  congener 
in  Italia  capta  Raij.,  vide  '  Hist.  Insect.',  p.  250  ;  and  a  large 
Ichneumon. 

When  I  came  to  town  I  found  a  box  containing  several 
birds,  the  most  curious  of  which  are — 

Merops  apiaster^  Stays  all  the  summer. 

Loxia  coccothraiosf[es],  Autumn  and  winter. 

Motacilla  stapazina^  Comes  in  autumn. 

^    ^         \  Stay  all  the  winter. 

Razor-bill  3 

Lanius  excuhitor^  Common  in  Spain. 

*  No  doubt  the  collection  sent  by  John  White  and  mentioned  in  Gilbert's 
letter  to  him  of  May  26th,  1770. 

t  Commonly  known  now  as  the  black  redstart,  Rutidlla  titys. — A.  N. 

X  Doubtless  a  species  of  wheatear,  and  the  mention  of  the  black  throat 
shows  it  to  have  been  the  Saxicola  stapazina  of  most  modern  authors,  and 
the  Motacilla  stapazina  of  Linnaeus  was  most  likely  the  nearly  allied  species 
now  known  as  S.  albicollis  or  aurita. — A.  N. 


1770  BIRDS   OF  GIBRALTAR  183 

Charadrius  calidris.  Winter  and  summer. 

Hirundo  liylerna^  Seen  only  in  winter. 

Scolopax  glottis,  Common  in  winter. 

Tetrao     coturnici     similis,  Smaller  than  the  quail,  and 

pedihus  tridadylis  called  trail,  or  terraile. 

Edwards's  grey  redstart,  Frequents  the  same  solitary 

parts  as  the  redstart. 

The  Hintndo  hyherna  (for  so  I  have  named  it)  will  prove, 
I  trust,  a  curiosity ;  *  for  I  cannot  find  it  among  Brisson's 
17  species  ;  nor  among  the  12  species  of  the  *  Syst.  Nat.'  It 
has  the  aspect  of  an  Hirundo  riparia,  but  seems  (for  I  have 
had  no  opportunity  of  comparing  it  yet  with  our  bank- 
martin)  to  be  much  larger,  and  to  have  a  redder  cast  on  the 
throat,  breast  and  belly.  Every  feather  of  the  tail,  except 
the  two  midmost  and  the  two  outmost,  has  a  remarkable 
white  spot  about  midway. 

If  the  quail  should  prove  to  be  a  tridactyl  species,  and 
not  a  variety,  it  will  be  curious.f  My  Bro"^  speaks  of  them 
as  common;  and  mentions  the  name  by  which  sportsmen 
distinguish  them.  For  my  part  I  think  my  specimen  is  in 
colour  much  like  a  common  hen-quail.  Brisson  mentions 
quails  in  Madagascar  that  have  no  back  toe ;  but  the  cocks 
at  least  of  this  sort  have  a  black  throat,  which  mine  has 
not. 

The  most  curious  Insects  in  my  bottles  were — 

Scorpio  Europceus,  Cancer  arctus, 

A  large  Cicade,  Several  curious  Cancri ;   not 

Blatta  Americana^  ascertained, 

*  Subsequently  found  to  be  identical  with  the  Hirundo  rupestris  described 
by  Scopoli  (see  Letter  to  John  "White  of  January  25th,  1771). — A.  N. 

+  This  proves  what  had  been  before  suspected  (Bell,  ii.  p.  6,  note),  that 
John  White  had  met  with  the  "  Gibraltar  Quail,"  first  described  and  figured 
by  Latham  in  1783  ('General  Synopsis  of  Birds,'  ii.  p.  790  and  title-page) 
from  a  specimen  in  the  Leverian  Museum,  very  likely  obtained  by  John 
White  himself.  It  is  the  Turnix  sylvatica  of  modern  ornithology ;  the  torillo 
(little  bull),  written  by  him  above  "terraile,"  of  Spaniards.— A.  N. 


184  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1770 

Some  caterpillars,  Cancer  Diogenes. 
Some  Scarabsei, 

Scolopendra  coleoptrata^  Some  of  the  fishes  were — 

Mantis  religiosa^  Syngnathus  acus, 

Spiders,  Syngnathus  hijppocampus, 

Asilus  harharus  I  Salmo  eperlanus, 

Onisci,  Mullus  harhatuSy 

Several  Labri,  Several  Spari, 

Arnoglossus,    Solea    loevis  Perca  marina,  etc. 

Raij^  * 

Coryphoina  psittacus,  Sepia  sepiola. 

But  I  refer  you  to  Mr.  Barrington  with  respect  to  the 
fishes,  who,  with  a  person  he  is  to  procure,  and  my  Brother 
in  Thames-street,  is  to  look  them  over  more  narrowly  at  his 
chambers.  The  specimens  of  fishes  are  in  general  too  small ; 
in  order  that  they  might  be  crouded  into  little  room.  In 
the  autumn  I  expect  an  other  box  with  many  more 
specimens. 

My  acknowledgements  are  due  for  your  list  of  South 
European  animals,  which  I  have  sent,  not  doubting  but  that 
it  will  be  of  service ;  and  also  for  y®  wing  of  the  chatterer. 
On  your  recommendation  I  have  desired  my  Brother  to  get 
Briinnich,  and  Gouan  on  fishes.*|* 

Returning  you  many  thanks  for  your  offers  of  assistance 
in  our  researches  into  the  natural  knowledge  of  Anda- 
lusia, which  I  am  conscious  will  be  very  useful  and 
necessary,  I  conclude 

Your  obliged,  and 

Humble  Servant, 

Gil.  White. 

RS. — Please  to  ascertain  my  second  Muscicapa.     When 

*  *  Synopsis  Pisciura,'  p.  34. — A.  N. 

t  See  his  letter  to  John  White  of  May  26th,  1770. 


1770  SENDS   BIEDS   TO   PENNANT  185 

I  have   the  pleasure  of   meeting  you  I   shall  be   glad   to 
communicate  my  papers. 

Since  I  wrote  the  above  I  have  been  this  evening  in  the 
forest,  and  have  procured  two  bank-martins,  which  are  every 
way  different  from  my  Hirundo  hyherna. 

In  October  her  nephew  made  his  usual  visit  to 
Mrs.  Snooke  at  Ringmer,  where  he  noted  crossbills 
Mmong  her  Scotch  firs  —  a  fact  he  recorded  when 
addressing  Daines  Barrington  from  Ringmer.^ 

Letter  XXX.,  of  August  1st,  1770,  to  Pennant, 
originally  commenced — 

"  Your  obliging  letter  of  July  24th  arrived  last  night,  and 
I  sit  down  this  morning  to  answer  it.  I  shall  send  you  my 
little  cargo  of  curiosities  with  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction. 
The  birds  are  here  at  my  house,  but  I  will  send  them  up  to 
town  to  my  brother  in  Thames  Street,  who  has  got  the  fishes; 
and  will  desire  him  to  send  them  all  together  down  to 
Chester.  If  you  should  think  proper  to  order  your  artist 
to  take  any  of  my  animals,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  the 
drawings. 

"  When  you  have  ascertained  the  fishes  you  will  be  pleased 
to  give  me  an  exact  account  of  them.  The  birds  will  be 
labelled  numerically  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  so  that  you  will  be  able  to 
speak  of  them  with  precision." 

Letter    XXXL,    September    14th,    as    originally 

written,  concluded — 

"  I  return  you  thanks  for  your  proof-sheet  respecting  the 
elks,  and  am  pleased  to  see  that  my  description  of  the  moose 
corresponds  so  well  with  yours.  Last  night  as  I  rode  home 
thro'  Alton,  I  found  at  the  post-house  contained  in  three 
franks  Mar :  Tli :  Brunnichii  Ichthyologia  MassilieTisis.     My 

*  Vide  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter  VII.  to  Barrington. 


186  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1770 

best  acknowledgments  are  due  for  so  curious  and  rare  a 
present." 

Letter  XXXII.  to  Pennant,  written  on  October 
29th,  1770,  contained,  at  its  commencement,  many 
sentences  which  were  omitted  in  publication  as  not 
germane  to  the  work.  After  a  discussion  of  some  of 
the  birds  forwarded  by  John  White  from  Gibraltar, 
and  now  in  Pennant's  possession*  the  letter  proceeds — 

"You  tender  me  Kramer*  in  so  obliging  a  manner,  and 
give  so  tempting  a  description  of  his  Fauna,  that  I  don't 
know  how  to  waive  so  pleasing  an  offer ;  and  yet  I  should 
be  sorry  to  give  you  any  trouble  on  that  account. 

"  I  will  desire  my  Brother  to  take  the  height  of  the  rock 
of  Gibraltar:  was  it  not  stupendous  there  could  not  be 
such  a  resort  and  rendezvous  of  so  many  sorts  of  wild 
and  shy  birds  amidst  such  a  concourse  of  people.  In  an 
E.  wind  or  levant  the  top  is  usually  capped  with  a  fog.  On 
Saturday  night  last  I  was  gratified  with  your  pleasing  letter 
of  Ocf^  21.  I  mention  this  circumstance  to  show  you  that 
I  lose  no  time  in  returning  your  fine  drawings,  as  you 
desired  they  might  not  be  detained.  Your  Artist  has  done 
my  birds  a  great  deal  of  credit,  as  well  as  himself;  and 
I  hope  they  will  get  back  safe  without  any  injury.  The 
Jiinco  is  finely  expressed  and  the  Quail  is,  I  think,  as  lovely 
a  drawing  as  ever  I  saw.  If  I  might  object  at  all  to  any 
part  of  the  performance  it  should  be  the  right  wing  of  the 
HirundOy  which  perhaps  is  rather  stiff,  and  to  the  middle  of 
the  tail,  which  seems  too  round.  For  the  tail,  though  not 
forked,  is  somewhat  emarginated,  as  Scopoli  observes.  The 
oval  spots  of  the  tail,  which  are  characteristic  of  this  species, 
are  well  hit  off.  The  secondary  wing  feathers  are,  you  must 
observe,  deeply  knotched. 

*  G.  H.  Kramer,  'Elenchus  vegetabilium  et  animalium  per  Austriam 
Inferiorem  observatorum.'    Vienna :  1756. — A.  N. 


1770  HIRUNDO  HYBEENA  187 

"  I  rejoice  in  your  acquisition  of  K  American  animals, 
and  am  pleased  to  find  that  you  persist  in  additions  to  your 
'  Britpsh]  Zoology '  illustrated.  Such  hints  as  occur  on  any 
of  those  subjects  shall  be  much  at  your  service. 

"  It  gives  me  real  pleasure  to  hear  that  the  report  con- 
cerning Mr.  Banks  is  groundless.  If  there  should  be  a 
rupture  with  Spain  my  Brother  will  be  much  circumscribed 
in  his  excursions  as  he  has  been  already  this  summer  by  the 
(loath  of  his  horse." 

From  Mr.  Sheffield.'^ 

Worcester  Coll,  DeC.  10, 1770. 

Dear  Sir, — I  am  ashamed  to  have  been  so  long  in  arrear 
for  your  last  Favour.  .  .  .  Had  I  known  of  the  arrival  of 
your  curious  cargo  from  Gibraltar  before  I  left  the  South 
of  Oxfordshire,  you  had  most  certainly  seen  me  again  at 
Selborne:  I  could  not  possibly  have  resisted  so  strong  a 
temptation.  At  present  I  must  content  myself  with  the 
hopes  of  gratifying  my  curiosity  at  a  more  favourable  season 
of  the  year ;  being  advised  to  use  every  Precaution,  and  not 
run  the  least  risk  of  taking  cold  this  Winter. 

I  had  never  heard  of  Scopoli's  *  Anni  Historico  Natu rales ' 
but  from  the  Description  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  but  his 
rupestris  is  your  Brother's  Hirundo  hyherna  Andal :  I  lay 
little  stress  on  those  passages  you  have  marked  as  exception- 
able, having  observed  in  Linnajus  and  other  Systematists 
that  the  specific  difference  is  almost  universally  constituted 
by  one,  or  two  particular  marks ;  the  rest  of  the  Description 
running  in  general  Terms — something  like  the  expression 
7nore  or  less  in  our  own  Language,  when  referred  to  estimates. 
But  I  think  Scopoli's  Diagnosis  sufficient  to  distinguish 
this  species  of  Hirundo,  &  particularly  the  Bedrice  maculd 
ovali  alba  in  latere  interno,  without  any  other  Description. 
And  here  I  cannot  help  observing  that  Honest  John  Ray 

*  Fellow,  and  afterwards  Provost,  of  Worcester  College,  Oxford. 


188  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1770 

is  the  only  Describer  I  ever  met  with  that  conveys  some 
precise  idea  in  every  word  or  Term  he  makes  use  of.  Though 
your  Brother  is  forestalled  in  the  discovery,  yet  his  ascertain- 
ing the  winter  residence  of  this  new  species  of  swallow  will 
probably  be  attended  with  considerable  advantages  to 
natural  History ;  as  it  must  in  great  measure,  if  not  entirely, 
overturn  that,  in  my  opinion,  very  absurd  hypothesis  of 
swallows  living  all  Winter  in  a  dormant  state  under  water. 
I  call  this  hypothesis  absurd,  as  it  asserts  a  body,  bulk  for 
bulk,  specifically  lighter  than  water,  sinks  to  the  bottom  of 
a  pool  or  river,  contrary  to  a  known  and  allowed  principle 
in  Hydrostatics — and  farther — why  may  we  not  reason,  by 
analogy,  from  your  Brother's  discovery,  that  those  Species 
of  Hirundines  which  frequent  and  affect  warmer  summer 
situations,  than  the  summits  of  the  Alps,  require  a  greater 
degree  of  warmth  in  winter,  and  of  course  retire  at  their 
usual  times  of  migration  into  more  southern  Latitudes  ? 
I  am  inclined  to  believe,  was  the  experiment  fairly  made, 
that  most  of  the  known  species  of  this  Genus  would  be 
discovered  along  the  shores  of  Africa ;  nor  do  I  in  the  least 
doubt  the  veracity  of  Adanson,*  when  he  asserts  that  He 
observed  vast  multitudes  of  European  swallows  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Senegal  and  Goree. 

After  I  left  your  hospitable  roof,  Kew  and  Hammersmith 
were  the  scenes  of  my  amusement,  and  highly  entertained 
I  was  at  each  of  these  places,  at  the  former  with  Plants, 
at  the  latter  with  Insects.  I  made  a  considerable  addition 
to  my  collection  in  each  of  these  Branches.  Lee  was  greatly 
pleased  with  the  Panorpa  coa  and  the  Vespa  crabroni  con- 
gener, which  He  had  not  seen  before.  I  told  Him  I  flattered 
myself  I  had  interest  with  you  to  procure  him  a  specimen 
of  each,  and  perhaps  of  some  others  which  were  new  to  him. 

*  Michel  Adanson,  author  of  *  Histoire  Naturelle  de  S^n%al  avec  la 
relation  abreg^e  d'un  voyage  fait  en  ce  pays  1749-53,'  published  in  Paris 
in  1757.     An  English  translation  appeared  in  London  in  1759. — A.  N. 


1770  MULSO   SUGGESTS   SPECTACLES  189 

He  would  return  an  hundredfold,  he  said — indeed  he  has 
done  that  already  to  me  in  several  instances.  I  must 
entreat  you  therefore  to  lay  by  a  Specimen  or  two  for  Lee 
if  you  can  spare  them.  I  left  the  Hirundo  rupestris  with 
Nancy  Lee  to  figure,  received  it  a  day  or  two  ago  drawn 
inimitably.  I  wish  you  much  to  see  it.  I  met  with  a 
cruel  disappointment  in  not  finding  Drury*  at  home,  whose 
collection  of  Insects  I  went  to  Town  almost  on  Purpose  to 
see.  I  called  at  your  Brother's  in  Fleet-street,  but  my 
friend  Benjamin  and  he  were  gone  to  Kingmer.  I  met  with 
Hudson  who  was  civil  and  gave  me  a  curious  plant  or  two 
and  some  Insects.  I  have  scarce  room  to  assure  you  that  I 
am  with  sincere  regard 

Your  much  obliged  and  obed*^  Hble  Serv*, 

W.  Sheffield. 

Writing  on  December  8th,  1770,  Mulso  says  : — 

"  Have  you  sent  my  Fly  to  Jack  [John  White],  and  has  he 
acknowledged  the  receipt  ?  and  was  he  pleased  to  see  a  little 
effort  of  an  old  friend  to  amuse  him  ?  Why  do  you  not  tell 
me  of  all  these  things,  and  of  what  he  says  of  the  Spanish 
camps,  and  the  apprehensions  of  the  garrison  about  it,  or 
whether  these  things  are  the  monsters  of  the  stockjobbers  ? 
I  desire  you  to  get  some  spectacles ;  I  own,  as  a  Batchelor, 
that  it  may  have  an  awkward  look  before  Ladies,  but  I 
should  get  a  great  deal  more  out  of  you  in  half  a  sheet  of 
paper,  for  you  now  write  a  hand  so  preposterously  large,  that 
one  of  my  pages  contains  more  than  three  of  yours ;  and  as 
you  now  write  alone  by  the  fireside  in  the  evening  before 
you  go  over  to  Mr.  Etty's,  you  may  unpannell  your  hose, 
taking  care  to  rub  the  sides  a  little,  and  no  one  be  the  wiser 
for  it  but  myself  ! " 

*  The  well-known  entomologist.  Author  of  'Illustrations  of  Natural 
History,  wherein  are  exhibited  upwards  of  240  figures  of  exotic  Insects, 
etc.,'  published  in  London  in  three  volumes,  1770-82. — A.  N. 


190  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1770 

That  Gilbert  White  was  now  really  at  work  on 
his  proposed  publication  appears  from  the  following 
remarks  of  the  same  correspondent  a  little  later  in 
the  month  (December  27th,  1770)  :— 

"As  to  'Charles  the  5th,'  I  finished  him  in  three  weeks,  and 
you  have  had  three  months,  a  solitary  House  and  a  Eire  to 
yourself :  so  that  unless  you  purposely  interrupt  yourself  in 
order  to  prolong  your  Pleasure,  it  must  be  finished  in  all 
this  time.  But  you  have  an  inexhaustible  Fund  in  your 
'  Systema'l  true :  but  as  that  will  never  be  over  as  long  as  you 
live,  I  will  not  admit  it  as  an  excuse  for  not  writing  to  me : 
tceclet  harum  quotidianarum  formaricm.  .  .  .  Jacky*  talks 
much  of  being  your  neighbour  at  Mr.  Willis's  [school]  at 
Alton,  and  I  bespeak  him  the  friendship  of  your  nephews, 
especially  Gibraltar  Jack." 

The  last  was  the  only  child  of  John  White,  who 
had,  it  will  be  remembered,  been  brought  home  in 
the  preceding  year  by  his  mother. 

The  following  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Naturalist's 
sister's  (Mrs.  Barker's)  only  son,  then  a  boy  in  his 
fourteenth  year.  He  grew  up  to  have  many  tastes 
in  common  with  his  uncle,  with  whom  he  constantly 
corresponded. 

To  Samuel  Barker.  ^  ,,  ^       -,    -,.,^^ 

Selborne,  Jan.  1,  1771. 

Dear  Sam, — I  was  much  pleased  to  see  so  intelligent  a 
letter  from  so  young  a  writer,  and  shall  be  very  glad  to  have 
you  continue  your  correspondence. 

The  lines  from  the  'Odyssey'  are  very  apropos  and  will 
make  a  very  suitable  motto  for  the  climate  of  Andalusia. 

*  His  eldest  son. 


1771  MOKE  GIBKALTAK  BIKDS  191 

My  brother  makes  a  very  rapid  progress  in  natural  know- 
ledge, and,  considering  he  has  no  person  to  confer  with  or  to 
advise  him  in  his  new  study,  does  wonders.  He  sent  me  in 
October  a  fresh  cargo  of  birds  and  insects  which  ought  to 
have  been  here  long  ago ;  but  as  they  came  in  a  Levant  ship, 
they  are  performing  quarantine  at  Stangate  Creek  and  will, 
I  fear,  be  tumbled  about  and  damaged. 

When  I  opened  your  letter  all  the  Farnassia-seed  fell  out, 
and  I  took  it  to  be  dust  and  dirt  from  the  pocket  of  the 
person  who  brought  it ;  but  luckily  it  fell  in  my  lap,  so  that 
I  saved  it  all.  I  shall  sow  it  soon  in  the  sandy  bogs,  and 
see  if  I  can  succeed  better. 

The  last  winter  migration  that  we  have  in  these  parts  is 
the  appearance  of  the  (Unas  sive  Vinago  Raii,  the  wild  wood 
pigeon  or  stock  dove,  which  comes  in  great  flocks  about  the 
end  of  November,  and  does  not  breed  in  these  parts,  perhaps 
not  in  the  kingdom.*  The  pigeon  that  breeds  in  our  woods 
and  hedge-rows,  and  cooes  all  the  summer  is  the  Falumhus  or 
ring-dove,  the  palumbes  mentioned  by  Virgil  in  his  eclogues : 
"  Nee  tamen  interea  raucae  tua  cura  palumbes." 

Your  Uncle  Harry  was  with  me  towards  the  end  of 
November.  As  we  were  walking  in  the  evening  we  saw 
just  after  sunset  a  star  of  a  moderate  magnitude,  just  above 
the  sun,  which  we  concluded  must  be  Mercury.  My  Brother 
was  much  pleased  to  see  what  he  thought  to  be  that  planet, 
as  it  was  new  to  him ;  and  I  had  never  seen  it  before  but 
once,  and  that  was  at  Lyndon  in  1760.  You  may  let  me 
know  if  Mercury  was  visible  at  that  time. 

With   the   compliments  and   good  wishes  of  the  season 

'  Yr.  affectionate  Uncle, 

Gil.  White. 

*  This  seems  to  be  a  mistake,  as  for  many  years  the  stock-dove  has  been 
known  to  breed  abundantly  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  one  can 
hardly  suppose  it  did  not  breed  at  and  about  Selborne  in  1771. — A.  N. 


192  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1771 

At  this  time  a  letter  was  addressed  to  Pennant, 
which  for  reasons  before  assigned  was  not  included 
amongst  those  published  by  its  writer. 

To  T.  Pennant.  ^  ,^  t       ^^,,    ._^_. 

Selborne,  Jan.  12th,  1771. 

Dear  Sir, — This  day  my  box  with  the  whole  of  my 
curiosities,  sets  out  by  the  waggon  on  its  way  to  London, 
from  whence  it  will  be  forwarded  by  my  Brother  to  Chester. 

You  will  be  so  kind  as  to  examine  the  contents,  and  to 
order  your  artist  to  draw  such  as  are  worthy  of  your  notice ; 
and  to  favour  me  with  your  opinion  concerning  the  most 
rare,  and  particularly  the  fishes,  which  need  not  be  returned. 

The  reason  that  my  Brother  sent  only  the  head  and  the 
feet  of  the  vulture  was  because  he  never  had  any  other 
part.  The  bird  was  found  dead  and  floating  in  the  sea; 
an  accident  it  seems  not  very  uncommon :  some  fishermen 
picked  it  up,  and  flayed  it,  eat  the  carcase,  and  threw  away 
the  skin,  and  gave  him  the  head  and  feet.  But  as  the 
Governor  has  got  a  live  bird  of  this  sort,  my  Brother  will 
take  care  to  describe  that  minutely. 

Please  to  be  particular  about  the  partridges.  My  last 
cargo  of  birds  returned  very  safe  from  your  house. 

I  thank  you  for  the  Portugal  apiaster,  which  differs 
somewhat  from  the  Andalusian. 

It  is  no  small  discovery,  I  think,  to  find  that  our  small 
short- winged  summer  birds  of  passage  are  to  be  seen  spring 
and  autumn  on  the  very  skirts  of  Europe :  it  is  a  very 
strong  presumptive  proof  of  their  migrations. 

Your  proof-sheet*  meets  with  my  approbation.  I  always 
was  of  opinion  that  the  stile  should  be  in  some  measure 
adapted  to  the  length  of  the  composition,  or  the  subject 
in  all  cases;  and  therefore  long  flowing  sentences  can't  be 
suitable  to  short  descriptions  in  a  work  that  professes  to  be 
a  synopsis. 
*  No  doubt  of  the  'Synopsis  of  Quadrupeds,*  published  in  1771. — A.  N. 


1771  SENDS   BIEDS   TO   PENNANT  193 

If  you  should  think  it  proper  to  have  the  Hirundo  melha 
taken,  would  it  not  be  right  to  have  it  drawn  on  its  back ; 
because  the  colour  of  the  belly  is,  size  excepted,  the  chief 
thing  that  distinguishes  it  from  the  Hir.  apus.  It  is  a 
swift  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 

You  pay  us  a  great  compliment  when  you  say  that  our 
account  of  Gibraltar  will  in  a  manner  comprehend  the 
animals  of  South  Europe.  It  is  a  work  that  I  could  wish 
see  reduced  to  some  degree  of  correctness ;  and  therefore 
am  much  gratified  when  you  tender  us  your  best  assistance, 
which  I  am  perswaded  would  be  its  best  support.  I  have 
been  in  a  pother  lately  about  writing  to  that  place,  fearing 
lest  this  misunderstanding  between  the  two  nations  may 
interrupt  the  correspondence  by  the  post,  and  suspecting 
my  last  letter  never  reached  my  Brother.  Mr.  Barrington 
seems  to  think  that  the  intercourse  is  still  subsisting. 

I  have  looked  over  Mr.  Forster's  catalogue  of  British 
insects,*  and  have  somewhat  to  advance  on  that  subject; 
but  time  will  not  permit  me  at  present,  as  I  am  pretty 
much  hurryed.  We  have  had  vast  rains  for  these  ten 
weeks  past,  and  some  great  storms,  especially  one  on  the 
20th  December  in  the  morning;  now  severe  frost. 

Hoping  your  troublesome  cold  has  left  you,  and  desiring 
you  to  accept  the  good  wishes  of  the  season, 
I  conclude  with  great  esteem. 

Your  obliged  and  humble  servant, 

Gil.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.] 

[Headed  "Bro.  John."] 

(2) 

Selborne,  Jan.  25,  1771. 

Dear  Brother, — I  received  your  kind  letter  of  October 
19th,  and  wrote  you  an  answer  on  November  6th.     I  should 

*  Published  at  Warrington,  under  the  auspices  of  Pennant,  in  1770. — A.  N. 
t  At  Gibraltar. 

VOL.  I. O 


194  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1771 

have  been  very  glad  to  have  seen  Mr.  Twisse :  he  just  came 
to  London,  called  on  Bro.  Ben,  and  set  out  for  Gibraltar 
again.  N°  five  is  Eay's  Junco,  and  the  Turdus  arundinaceus 
of  Linn.  The  Merula  passer  solitarius  of  Eay  is  said  to  be 
a  fine  songster,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  bird  mentioned 
in  Psalm  cii.  7.  Your  winter  swallow  is  undoubtedly  the 
Hirundo  rwpestris  of  Scopoli;  you  however  will  have  the 
credit  of  discovering  its  winter  quarters.  Brisson  mentions 
a  tridactyl  quail  from  Madagascar.  He  calls  it  "Perdix 
infern^  cinerea,  superne  e  cinereo,  rufo,  &  nigro  variegata, 
gutture  &  collo  inferiore  nigris ;  coturnici  nostrati  paululum 
crassitie  cedens"  His  'Ornithology'  is  extravagantly  dear: 
7  or  8  guineas.  Geoffroy  will  set  you  right  by  means  of  his 
cuts  in  many  genera  of  insects. 

The  motto  from  the  'Odyssey,'  book  iv.  566,  is  a  description 
of  the  Elysian  fields,  and  will  suit  the  climate  of  Andalusia 
well — 

"  Ov  VLcf)€TOS,   Oi5t'  a/3  )(€lfia)V  TToXvS,   0VT6  TTOt'  OfJL^pOS' 

'AAA.'  aUl  Z€<l>vpoLO  Atyv  Trveiovras  diJTas 
'Q,Keavos  dvLrjcTLV  avaiJ/v)(€Lv  dvOpunrovs." 

"  Stern  winter  smiles  on  that  auspicious  clime  ; 
Tlie  fields  are  florid  with  unfading  prime  : 
From  the  bleak  pole  no  winds  inclement  blow, 
Mould  the  round  hail,  or  flake  the  fleecy  snow ; 
But  from  the  breezy  deep  the  blest  inhale 
The  fragrant  murmurs  of  the  western  gale." 

The  prose  motto  is  perfectly  suitable  to  your  present 
situation,  and  prophetic  of  your  undertaking. 

"Certe  si  aliquis  Naturse  consultus  in  maxime  australi 
Hispania  in  aves  observaret,  quando  accedant  aut  recedant 
austrum  et  septentrionem  versus,  notatis  scilicet  diebus 
mensis  et  speciebus;  res  haec  adeo  obscura  brevi  maxime 
illustraretur."     '  Amoenitates  Academicse '  Lin.,  vol.  iv. 

Now  Mr.  Twisse  is  returned,  be  sure  get  his  conjectures 
on  the  currents  of  the  Streights :  you  will  want  dissertations 


1771  THE   CUEIOUS   BIEDS  DEAWl^  195 

for  your  work.  Your  embassy  to  the  Emperor  of  Morocco 
with  a  description  of  his  person,  manners,  troops,  etc.  will 
make  a  very  good  chapter.  Have  you  not  in  Spain  some 
crown-flocks  of  sheep  which  migrate  with  the  seasons  from 
IST.  to  S.  Get  some  anecdotes  of  them.  Mr.  Pennant  makes 
his  artist  take  all  your  most  curious  birds ;  and  promises  the 
drawings  shall  be  forthcoming  if  wanted  to  engrave  from. 
Describe  the  Vultur  ipercnajpterus  most  minutely,  and  learn 
if  you  have  an  opportunity  the  difference  of  the  sexes.  Get 
tlie  skin  of  the  Lwpus  aureus  from  Barbary,  and  describe 
it  well.  Scopoli's  new  Hirundo  alpina  is  nothing,  I  think, 
but  the  Hirundo  melba,  which  is  indeed  a  noble  swift :  get 
all  the  anecdotes  you  can  about  them.  Write  to  Scopoli, 
he  is  very  clever :  but  ask  him  as  gravely  as  you  can  how  he 
is  sure  that  the  woodcock,  when  pursued,  carries  off  her 
young  in  her  bill*  I  have  just  sent  your  cargo,  which 
I  received  in  August,  to  Mr.  Pennant:  but  as  to  your 
collection  shipped  in  October,  I  have  never  seen  it  yet ;  for 
brother  Thomas  writes  word  that  it  has  been  performing 
quarantine  in  Stangate-creek.  Just  as  I  had  penned  the 
last  sentence  a  letter  arrived  from  brother  Thomas  informing 
me  that  the  box  was  got  safe  to  his  house,  which  is  good 
news :  for  I  was  in  pain  for  the  curiosities  and  Jack's  shirts. 
When  the  Mantis  casts  his  skins  he  is  in  his  pupa  state,  and 
advancing  by  casting  aside  those  exuviae  to  perfection. 
Scopoli's  Icones  will  probably  disappoint  you:  Linnseus's 
engravings  of  insects  are  miserable:  Geoffrey's  are  the  best 
I  have  seen.  The  bird  you  call  a  Parus  (if  it  be  not  the 
common  black-cap)  is  a  nondescript :  if  it  should  prove  new, 
call  it  Motacilla  atricapilloides :  Mr.  Pennant  thinks  it  a 
new  bird.  Your  purple-winged  Vespa  is  no  doubt  the 
Crahroni  congener  Eaij  ;  and  if  you  can  find  that  it  has 
"thorax  ad  latera  postice  utrinque  dente  notatus,"  I  shall 

*  Scopoli's  words  are  "puUos  rostro  portat,"  which  should  be  rendered 
"by  means  of  her  bill,"  and  relate  what  is  since  proved  to  be  a  fact.— A.  N. 


196  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1771 

acknowledge  it  to  be  the  Sphex  hidens  Linn.  I  am  sending 
all  your  insects  to  nephew  Ben.  White  in  town,  and  shall 
get  Mr.  Lee,  the  botanist  of  Hammersmith,  to  inspect  and 
ascertain  them,  because  he  is  the  best  Entomologist  that 
I  know.  The  reason  that  Linn,  mentions  so  many  Insects 
from  Barbary  is,  because  Mr.  Brander,  the  Swedish  Consul 
at  Algiers,  sent  him  vast  collections.  In  the  little  box 
which  you  sent  me  with  a  sliding  lid  are  two  species  of 
Myrmeleones.  Geoffroy  seems  to  have  a  good  cut  of  one. 
You  will  now  be  able  to  measure  the  rain  of  your  climate : 
the  mean  quantity  per  ann.  in  Eutland  is  20f  inches.  Learn 
as  much  as  possible  the  manners  of  animals,  they  are  worth 
a  ream  of  descriptions.  You  must  produce  some  ingenious 
dissertations  to  entertain  the  unsystematic  reader.  What 
do  the  Panorpoe  com  do  with  their  long  remiform  wings? 
Frequent  your  markets,  and  see  what  birds  are  offered  to 
sale.  Get  some  account  of  the  prickly  heat,  or  fever,  and 
the  exact  height  of  your  mountain.  It  seems  to  me  no 
doubt  but  that  your  Motacilla  N°  5  is  the  Junco  of  Eay :  but 
he  does  not  seem  to  be  so  exact  as  usual,  and  talks  of  a  stiff 
tail,  and  omits  mentioning  the  white  and  black  bars  at  the 
end  of  its  tail.  It  will  be  worth  our  while  to  find  out 
Mr.  Moore,  the  botanist,  or  his  representatives ;  and  to 
endeavour  to  procure  his  flora  of  your  district.  Eay  does 
not  take  notice  that  the  thighs  of  the  Merops  are  naked. 

I  had  written  thus  far  when  your  curious  box  of  birds 
shipped  in  Ocf  and  Jack's  shirts  and  sweetmeats  arrived : 
the  insects  were  left  in  town  for  the  reason  above-mentioned. 
Your  kind  letter  of  Dec"^  9  came  the  same  day.  Geoffroy,  no 
doubt,  is  too  verbose,  so  are  all  his  country  men.  Mr. 
Pennant  makes  sad  complaint  of  Gouan's  book  of  fishes,  and 
of  the  obscurity  of  the  Labrus  and  Sparus  genera.  D*"  Shaw's 
Natural  part  of  his  travels  *  is  said  to  be  good.     You  will 

*  'Travels  in  Barbary,'  etc. — A.  N. 


1771  MOEE  BIEDS  AERIVE  197 

do  well  to  have  two  columns  of  thermometer  observations, 
especially  as  1769  and  1770  were  both  on  the  extremes. 
As  matter  flows  in  upon  me  I  begin  to  think  of  composing  a 
Natural  History  of  Selborne  in  the  form  of  a  journal  for 
1769 :  we  shall  then  be  able  to  compare  the  climates.  You 
mention  the  great  eagle  owl,  and  send  me,  I  think,  a  wing 
and  claw  of  that  majestic  bird;  and  yet  you  call  it  Strix 
oius;  sure  you  mean  Strix  hubo ;  the  ohis  is  our  common 
horned  owl.  I  see  none  of  your  plants ;  perhaps  they  are 
lost :  the  sweet-smelling  clammy  shrub  must  be,  I  suppose, 
a  cistus;  has  it  not  a  single,  rose-like,  fugacious  flower? 
You  have  classed  all  your  last  fine  cargo  of  birds  so  justly, 
that  there  is  no  room  for  objection.  Where  you  doubt, 
I  doubt :  though  I  think  there  is  little  room  to  doubt  about 
the  Alauda  cristata:  but  the  pair  of  birds  (if  they  are  a 
pair)  which,  I  suppose,  you  call  Alauda  twu  cristata,  seem 
rather  some  species  of  the  genus  of  Moiacilla.  Get  the 
Pratincola  when  you  can.  At  present  I  am  a  stranger 
to  your  (Enanihe,  The  Oriolus  galhula  must  be  a  fine  bird 
when  in  perfection.  Your  barometer  fluctuates  much  more 
than  I  could  have  expected  in  so  warm  a  climate  and  low 
a  latitude  :  in  the  tropics  it  hardly  varies  at  all.  Your  last 
quail  seems  to  be  a  male,  the  former  a  female.  You  will 
pardon  the  didactic  air  of  my  letters,  which  in  our  present 
way  of  correspondence  is  perhaps  unavoidable.  The  wing 
of  the  Strix  hubo  is  "remigihus  primorihus  serratis" :  had 
Linn,  remarked  that,  he  would  not  have  made  that  a  specific 
difference  to  his  Strix  aluco.  See  '  Fauna  Suec.,'  p.  25. 
I  am,  &c.,  &c. 


CHAPTEK  X. 

Early  in  the  year  1771  Mrs.  Woods  died.  The  loss 
of  this  sister  seems,  from  a  letter  of  Mulso's,  to  have 
been  greatly  felt  by  Gilbert  White. 

On  March   30th  he  addressed  to   Pennant  what 
"T)ecame  Letter  XXXIY.      The  original  letter  com- 
menced— 

Your  agreeable  letter  of  Feb.  15th  arrived  while  I  was 
from  home,  and  since  my  return  somewhat  stiU  has  pre- 
vented my  sitting  down  to  pay  it  that  regard  which  it 
deserved. 

You  may  probably  have  heard  by  means  of  Mr.  Barrington, 
who  saw  the  contents  while  they  lay  in  town,  that  I  have 
received  another  small  cargo  of  birds  from  Gibraltar,  with 
a  curious  collection  of  insects.     The  birds  were  as  follow : — 

Merops  apiaster,  3  specimens,  Eallus  aquat. 

Loxia  curvirostra,  Motacilla  flava. 

Scolopax  cegocephala,  M.  &  F.,  (Enanthe  ? 

„      phceopus,  Charadrius  hiaticula, 

Oriolus  galhula,  2  spec,  Hematopus  ostralegus. 

Alauda  cristata,  Leg  &  wing  of  strix  hibo. 

Alauda        „     ?  2  spec,  Leg  of  ardea  nycticorax. 

Coturnix  tridact,  Mas,  Turdus  af^ndinaceios. 
Mot.  (enanthe,  M.  &  F. 

193 


1771  BIKDS   FEOM   GIBEALTAR  199 

Where  a  wing  or  a  leg  or  an  head  only  are  sent,  you 
are  to  suppose  that  the  whole  specimen  was  too  stale  and 
too  far  gone  to  be  preserved  before  it  reached  my  Brother's 
liands.  The  alauda  unknown  answers  well  in  many  respects 
to  the  Spipoletta  Florentinis  of  Ray.  But  as  that  most 
accurate  writer  says  that  the  rostrum  of  the  spipoletta  is 
nigerrimum,  and  pedes  etiam  nigri,  I  must  by  no  means 
pretend  to  say  that  my  birds  are  the  above-mentioned 
when  their  bills  and  legs  are  brown;  and  especially  since 
all  ornithologists  agree  that  the  naked  parts  of  birds  are 
the  least  apt  to  vary  in  colour.  As  to  the  oenanthe  I  don't 
know  at  all  what  to  make  of  it;  it  appears  to  me  more 
like  a  variegated  accidental  specimen  than  a  new  species: 
but  I  shall  hear  what  you  have  to  say.  The  outer  edge 
of  the  first  quill  feather  of  the  wing  of  the  strix  bubo 
is  serrated,  a  circumstance  which  Linn,  seems  not  to  be 
aware  of;  for  if  he  had  he  would  never  have  made  it 
specific  to  his  strix  aluco :  since  what  is  common  to  more 
than  one  species  cannot  be  specific.  But  such  slips  are 
pardonable,  nay  unavoidable,  opere  in  longo. 

As  the  07noli  galh.  are  birds  of  last  year  their  colour  is 
by  no  means  come  to  its  full  splendor.  My  Brother  has 
much  to  say  in  defence  of  his  supposition  that  his  Spanish 
and  Barbary  partridges  are  different  species.  In  one  of  his 
last  letters  his  words  are,  "I  am  perfectly  clear  about  the 
difference  of  the  Span,  and  Bar.  partridge.  I  have  examined 
multitudes  of  each,  and  never  found  the  least  exception  to 
my  remark. — That  the  Bar.  sort  has  always  the  chestnut 
collar,  cheeks,  &c.,  spotted  with  white ;  the  Span,  sort  always 
has  those  parts  black,  and  the  collar  of  a  different  form.  The 
distinction  is  invariable ;  and  I  wonder  no  one  remarked  it. 
The  Span,  is  rather  the  larger  bird.  Indeed  on  a  careful 
comparison  the  whole  disposition  even  of  those  colours 
which  correspond  in  each  bird  differs." 

Shaw's  '  Travels '  are  to  be  met  with  in  Gibraltar,  and  my 


200  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1771 

Brother  had  discovered  himself  that  the  tridactyl  quail  was 
known  to  the  D"*  in  Barbary;  however  we  are  equally 
obliged  to  you  for  your  hint.  Gannets  are  never  seen 
about  Gibraltar  'til  Nov.;  they  retire  again  about  March. 
My  Brother  shall  try  to  procure  the  bird  for  you  from 
the  Barbary  Coast. 

I  shall  make  a  point  of  meeting  you  in  town.  It  is  time 
now  to  have  a  little  conversation  face  to  face  after  we  have 
corresponded  so  freely  for  several  years. 

The  letter  concluded — 

If  you  have  a  desire  to  see  my  last  birds,  please  to 
intimate  as  much;  but  as  you  intend  soon  to  be  in  town, 
might  they  not  as  well  meet  you  there  and  save  a  large 
carriage  ?  but  this  shall  be  as  you  please. 

I  had  written  thus  far  when  your  letter  of  the  19  of 
Mar.  arrived.  Many  thanks  are  due  for  your  trouble  in 
ascertaining  so  many  of  my  Brother's  fishes,  and  for  the 
honour  you  have  done  his  birds  in  ordering  so  many  of 
them  to  be  taken.  I  shall  transcribe  your  list  and  send 
it  off  to  Gibraltar  next  week.  My  brother  will  be  pleased 
to  see  how  you  have  named  his  specimens. 

When  you  write  to  Gibraltar,  crowd  your  letter  with 
hints:  mine  run  of  late  in  a  very  didactic  style.  You 
have,  I  find,  made  some  alteration  in  your  time  of 
coming.  May  I  presume  to  ask  how  long  you  stay  in 
town?     Hoping  to  have  the  honour  of  seeing  you  soon, 

I  remain  with  great  esteem 

Your  obliged  and 

humble  Servant, 

Gil.  White. 

From  the  following  letter  to  Pennant,  written  at 
this  time,  the  Naturalist  extracted  Letter  XXXV. 


1771  ANNUS  HISTOEICO-NATUEALIS  201 

little   more  than  a  paragraph  (here  omitted)   upon 
the  tails  of  peacocks  : — 

Selborne,  July  19,  1771. 

Dear  Sir, — My  unusual  silence  has  not  been  owing  to  any 
disrespect,  but  to  the  roving  unsettled  life  which  I  have 
lived  for  this  month  past. 

I  wish  you  had  happened  to  have  paid  a  little  more 
attention  to  the  pair  of  larks  which  came  over  in  my  last 
collection,  because  they  seemed  to  me  to  be  quite  a  different 
species  from  any  sent  before :  and  I  should  not  have  hesitated 
to  have  called  them  Spipoletta  Florentinis  Rai%  had  they  had 
black  feet  and  black  bills.  The  variegated  (Enanthe  also 
deserved  your  regard.  But  I  will  endeavour  to  send  both 
sorts  again  when  I  have  an  opportunity,  that  you  may  survey 
them  at  your  leisure.  My  thanks  are  due  for  your  setting 
us  right  where  some  birds  were  misnamed. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  find  that  you  and  my 
brother  at  Gibraltar  are  embarked  in  a  correspondence. 
You  are  capable  of  giving  each  other  mutual  entertainment : 
and  my  brother  (as  by  much  the  youngest  Naturalist)  will 
derive  from  you  much  information  and  many  useful  hints 
and  queries.  What  from  his  natural  propensity  and  applica- 
tion, from  the  assistance  of  ingenious  friends,  and  from 
the  copious  field  of  the  South  of  Spain,  which  he  has  all 
to  himself,  I  doubt  not  but  that  in  time  he  will  be  able  to 
produce  somewhat  worthy  the  attention  of  men  who  love 
these  studies. 

As  to  any  publication  in  this  way  of  my  own,  I  look  upon 
it  with  great  diffidence,  finding  that  I  ought  to  have  begun 
it  twenty  years  ago.  But  if  I  was  to  attempt  anything  it 
should  be  somewhat  of  a  Nat[ural]  history  of  my  native 
parish,  an  annus  historico-nuturalis  comprizing  a  journal  for 
one  whole  year,  and  illustrated  with  large  notes  and  observa- 
tions.    Such  a  beginning  might  induce  more  able  naturalists 


202  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1771 

to  write  the  history  of  various  districts,  and  might  in  time 
occasion  the  production  of  a  work  so  much  to  be  wished  for, 
a  full  and  compleat  nat[ural]  history  of  these  kingdoms. 

Your  engraver  at  Chester  acquits  himself  like  an  able 
artist :  and  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  his  price  is  for  a 
plate  containing  two  or  three  animals.  You  have,  I  see, 
furnished  the  'Gentleman's  Magazine'  for  last  month  with 
a  plate  and  some  descriptions.  The  conductor  of  that 
publication  will,  no  doubt,  rejoice  in  such  a  correspon- 
dent. .  .  . 

I  have  just  read  with  satisfaction  and  improvement 
Kalm's  journey  thro'  K  America ;  but  as  he  is  continually 
referring  to  another  work  he  cuts  us  very  short  often  times 
both  in  botany  and  zoology. 

Yesterday  I  had  a  letter  from  town,  which  mentions  the 
safe  return  of  Mr.  Banks,*  and  adds  that  he  looked  as  well 
as  ever  he  did  in  his  life.  So  agreeable  an  event  calls  for  my 
warmest  congratulations.  For  if  we  rejoice  at  the  arrival  of 
a  friend  who  has  been  absent  but  a  few  months  perhaps  in 
a  neighbouring  kingdom ;  how  shall  we  express  ourselves 
when  we  see  one  restored  as  it  were  from  the  other  world, 
having  undergone  the  astonishing  hazards  and  dangers  that 
must  attend  the  circumnavigation  of  the  world  itself ! ! ! 

I  have  great  reason  to  regret  my  disappointment  of  not 
meeting  you  in  town :  but  as  we  live  by  hope  I  trust  that  I 
shall  be  more  fortunate  another  time. 

With  great  esteem  I  remain 

Your  obliged,  and 

Most  humble  Servant, 

Gil.  White. 

On  September  25th,  1771,  the  Selborne  Naturalist 
returned  to  the  subject  of  the  birds  of  Gibraltar — 

*  From  Cook's  first  voyage. 


1771  BIKDS   SENT  TO   BANKS  203 

a  part  of   a  letter  to   Pennant  (Letter   XXXVII.) 
omitted  on  publication. 

By  the  next  return  of  the  waggon  I  shall  send  up  a 
small  but  rare  collection  of  birds,  which  I  beg  that  you  and 
Mr.  Banks  would  please  to  examine,  that  I  may  hear  what 
two  such  curious  Naturalists  have  to  say  about  some  of 
of  them.     They  are  as  follow: — 

Merula  passer  solitarius.  M.  &  F. 

Ma-ulanigerri'nmuropygio  |   j^  ^^^  ^^^  ^  nondescript  ? 

rectriciousque  mveis.    j 
Fringilla  petronia. 

Sturnus  collaris  Scopoli.  An  elegant  bird  ! 

Emheriza  cirlus. 

Pratincola  Krameri.  Well  engraved  in  Kramer. 

Anas  clypeata  pectore  riibro.    Differs  from  our  shoveler. 
Species  of  lark.  What  ? 

Motacilla  hoarula  Scopoli. 
Species  of  perch.  What? 

You  are  welcome  to  take  these  birds  into  the  country,  as 
you  say  London  affords  you  no  leisure  for  examination  in 
such  matters :  and  if  you  shall  think  tliem  worthy  of  being 
drawn,  you  will  lay  us  under  great  obligations  by  communicat- 
ing those  drawings  at  a  proper  season.  My  Brother  makes 
no  contemptible  progress  in  Nat.  history,  and  will  be  able,  I 
trust,  by  the  assistance  of  good  friends  (to  whom  he  will  be 
ready  to  make  all  due  acknowledgements)  to  produce  in  due 
time  somewhat  not  unworthy  the  attention  of  the  candid 
Naturalist.  Please  to  return  the  birds  to  my  Brother  in 
Thames  street  as  usual.  It  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  meet 
you  in  London  at  present,  because  I  have  a  call  that  obliges 
me  to  go  an  other  way. 

Pray  present  my  humble  respects  to  Mr.  Banks,  and  tell 
him  I  heartily  congratulate  him  on  his  safe  return  from  his 
astonishing  voyage  !     The  world  expects  great  information 


204  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORlSrE  1771 

from  his  discoveries  during  his  circumnavigation.  My 
respects  also  wait  on  Mr.  Barrington,  and  thanks  for  his 
letter  from  Beaumaris. 

After    returning    you    my    acknowledgments    for    your 
present  of  the  curious  old  Bondeletiiis  de  jpiscilms*  I  remain 
With  great  esteem 

Your  much  obliged,  and 

Humble  Servant, 

Gil.  White. 

After  entertaining  some  friends  in  tlie  summer  at 

Selborne,  the  usual  autumn  visit  to  Eingmer  was 

made.     The  Naturalist's  Journal  of  November  1st 

records  that — 

"Mrs.  Snooke's  tortoise  began  to  dig  in  order  to  hide 
himself  for  the  winter." 

That  swallows,  as  well  as  tortoises,  might  perhaps 
hide  themselves  during  the  winter  season  remained, 
as  successive  entries  in  his  Naturalist's  Journal 
distinctly  show,  a  favourite  speculation  of  Gilbert 
White's  till  the  end  of  his  life.  At  this  time  he 
notes — 

"Nov.  4th.  Saw  three  swallows  flying  briskly  at  New- 
haven  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lewes  river." 

On  his  journey  home  by  way  of  Chilgrove — 

"  Nov.  13.  Saw  16  forktailed  kites  at  once  on  the  downs." 

In  November,  1771,  John  Mulso,  who  had  recently 
become  Canon  of  Winchester,  received  the  rectory 
of  Meonstoke  from  his  uncle,  now  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, giving  up  the  living  of  Witney ;  so  that  he 

•  There  are  several  editions  of  Rondelet's  work  on  Fishes,  the  first  pub- 
lished at  Lyons  in  1554. — A.N. 


'UlaCJiiv  &  ffcrJrenU.^A-J^ 


AjL^:  3wdU~-* 


1772  MULSO   EECTOE  OF  WITNEY  205 

now  had  a  home  only  about  seventeen  miles  south- 
west of  Selborne,  on  the  Alton  and  Gosport  road. 
No  preferment,  other  than  those  of  his  College,  was 
offered  to  the  Curate  of  Faringdon ;  and  his  friend, 
regretting  this,  wrote  on  February  27th,  1772  (after 
requesting  good  offices  at  an  Oriel  Fellowship 
election) — 

"  It  is  a  sincere  grief  to  me,  that  my  perpetual  desire  of 
serving  you,  and  my  efforts  towards  it,  have  had  so  little 
success  as  to  give  me  no  claim  to  ask  favours  of  this  nature 
of  you.  ...  I  hear  nothing  of  West  Meon,  but  that  I 
am  not  to  have  it.  I  do  not  ask,  but  I  might  be  prevailed 
on  to  take  it.  You  are  morally  sure  that  /  have  not  the 
disposal  of  any  of  the  Bishop's  preferments." 

On  January  13th,  1772,  the  following  letter  was 
addressed  to  Pennant  from  Selborne,  but  not  in- 
cluded in  those  published  : — 

Dear  Sir, — I  sent  you  by  the  return  of  the  Alton  waggon 
last  week  such  birds  of  my  last  cargoes  as  you  had  not 
seen  before :  some  of  which,  I  think,  will  not  displease  you ; 
and  of  others  I  shall  beg  your  friendly  information,  not 
being  able  to  ascertain  them,  especially  the  larks,  and  the 
motacillce.  You  will,  I  hope,  also  give  me  your  opinion 
of  the  last  cargo ;  and  especially  of  the  white-rumped  bird 
and  the  duck ;  the  former  of  which  is,  I  trust,  a  turdus, 
and  a  rare  bird,  and  perhaps  a  nondescript ;  and  as  to  the 
latter  I  should  be  pleased  to  know  whether  it  be  the  red- 
breasted  shoveler  of  the  Brit.  Zool.  or  not.  My  present 
cargo  is  as  follows: — 

Phcenicopterus  ruber  Mas. 

Larus  fidipes  alter  Willughcei :  N.  VI.  ? 

Zanius  collurio,  pullus  ? 


206  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1772 

Zanius  colhirio,  woodchat  from  Tetuan. 

Sturnus  niger  from  Tetuan :  an  nova  species  ? 

Oriolus  galhula. 

Oriolvs      „        young  or  variety. 

Alauda  cristata. 

Alauda  No.  1.  2  specimens;  bills  long  and  slender;  breasts 
tinged  with  yellow. 

Alauda  No.  2.  2  spec. ;  bills  short  and  taper ;  back  claw 
small — and  short ;  tails  short  and  dusky ;  outside 
feathers  tinged  with  yellow. 

Alauda  1  bill  slender;  back  claw  short  and  rather  in- 
curved; breast  a  little  spotted;  tail  long  and  dusky; 
out  feathers  white ;  is  it  the  same  with  No.  1  ? 

Motacilla  No.  1.  What?  large:  back  and  wings  ash- 
coloured;  head  dusky;  throat,  breast,  belly  white; 
tail  lost  an  Motacilla  dumetorum  Linn.  Kram.  Aust. 
377:n:19? 

Motacilla  No.  2.  What?  small:  head,  back  dusky-reddish; 
wings  dusky;  outer  webs  chestnut-coloured;  throat 
white ;  breast  tinged  with  red ;  feet  and  legs  palish. 

Motacilla  No.  3.  2  spec;  minute;  head,  back,  wings 
black ;  feathers  edged  with  chestnut,  resembling  the 
passer  torq%iatiis\  throat  white,  breast,  belly,  sides 
tawny ;  caudd  unicolore ;  elegant  little  birds  ? 

In  all  these  difficulties  your  obliging  disposition  will 
prompt  you  to  assist  me;  and  you  will  besides  I  hope 
refer  so  to  numerical  remarks  as  to  prevent  mistakes  or 
misapprehension.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  of  all  the 
larks  my  Brother  has  procured  he  has  never  yet  met  with 
a  British  species.  Has  Brisson  any  larks  unknown  to  Ray  ? 
You  will  find,  I  think,  in  the  box  two  or  three  distinct 
and  unusual  species.  My  Brother  in  Thames  Street  has  sent 
for  the  last  bottles  of  fishes.  Enclosed  with  the  birds  are 
some  rough  draughts  of  some  fishes  taken  by  my  Brother  at 
Gibraltar,  who,  though  he  knows  nothing  of  the  rules  of 


1772  MOKE  GIBRALTAE  BIRDS  207 

drawing,  yet  he  trusts  such  rude  sketches  will  inform  an 
Ichthyologist  better  than  mere  words. 

As  I  have  a  few  shells  and  fossils,  I  should  take  it  as 
a  favour  if  you  would  (when  you  return  the  box)  add  a 
few  ores  and  fossils  to  my  collection  such  as  your  mines 
and  neighbourhood  afford ;  a  few  will  be  sufficient. 

Pray,  when  in  this  Spring  do  you  intend  to  be  in  town  ? 
Still  I  hope  to  meet  you  there  some  time  or  other. 

I  am  much  pressed  at  present,  and  must  stop  here,  but 
propose  to  write  again  not  long  hence.  Pray,  when  does 
Mr.  Banks  sail?* 

On  March  19th,  1772,  another  letter  on  the  same 
subject  to  Pennant  was  written  from  Selborne,  but 
not  published. 

Your  obliging  letter  of  Feb.  21st  came  safe  to  this  place 
and  followed  me  up  to  town;  where  I  also  received  your 
favour  of  March  1st. 

While  I  was  in  London  came  from  Gibraltar  a  box  con- 
taining (besides  several  birds  which  you  have  seen  before) 
Ardea  alba  minor \  perhaps  the  6  of  Ray*s  synopsis  avium i 
Charadrius  alexandrinus.     These  are  all  the  new  birds. 

In  a  bottle  Sparus  mosnal  Salmo  eperlanus  Calpensis: 
Uennius  supercilios:  cancer  arctos. 

In  a  phial  Squali  foetus :  cancer  arctos :  lahrus. 

These  are  all  left  with  my  Brother  Tho.  who  will  add 
them  to  the  cargo  I  am  sending  up. 

I  also  looked  out  the  pratincola,  which  will  be  sent  with  the 

rest.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  a  genus  ^er  se.  When  I 

came  home  I  found  by  the  Liverpool  frigate  a  box  containing: — 

Mustella  lutra.  Trigla  volitan^ :  and 

Squallus  glaucus.  some   birds    seen 

„        mustelus.  before ;  all  dryed. 

Uranoscopus  scaler. 

*  Banks,  disappointed  of  a  second  voyage  round  the  world,  in  this  year 
undertook  one  to  Iceland. — A.  N. 


208  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1772 

PHIALS. 
No.  1.  Gasterost,  ovatus  ?  Zeus  aper ;  Labrus ;  Perca  ? 
„   2.  Esox  Saurus. 

„    3.  Cancer  Squilla  carinata ;  Percce ;  Gdbii. 
„   4.  Cancer  squil.  carin. ;  Trigla  verticillata ;  Perca. 
„    5.  Trigla  lucerna  ;  Track.  Draco. 

You  will  also  receive  the  outlines  of  the  following  fishes : — 
Squalus  cenirina :  Scicenal  Borrico  minor ;  Scomber  pelamis ; 

Scicena ;  Cor&o  ;  Esox  Saurus ;  Gasterosteus  Saltatrix ;  Lepid- 

ojms ;  Perca  vel  Zeus  ?  novus  capite  diaphano. 

Among  the  rest  I  send  you  the  short-eared  owl  of  '  British 
Zoology '  omitted  before. 

My  thanks  are  due  for  your  thoughts  on  the  former  cargo. 

Your  tour  through  Scotland  appears  to  me  to  be  a  very 
engaging  work;  and  the  town  it  is  plain,  is  of  the  same 
opinion;  for  the  book  has  a  great  run. 

I  regret  that  I  was  obliged  to  leave  town  before  I  had 
seen  your  genera  avium.*  Your  Synopsis  quadrupedum  gives 
me  satisfaction. 

When  I  came  to  town  I  found  a  long  letter  from  Linnaeus 
to  my  Brother  John  lying  in  Fleet-street,  occasioned  by 
an  epistle  and  some  phials  of  insects  sent  by  the  latter  to 
the  former.  The  old  arch-naturalist  writes  with  spirit  still ; 
and  is  very  open  and  communicative,  acknowledging  that 
several  of  the  Insects  were  new  to  him.  He  languishes  to  see 
a  pratincola,  being  conscious  that  it  belongs  not  to  the  genus 
of  hirundo. 

Please  to  order  the  fishes  that  are  ascertained  to  be  thrown 
away ;  I  mean  those  in  spirits. 

I  am,  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and 

Humble  servant, 
Gil.  White. 

*  This  must  liave  been  in  MS.,  as  the  first  edition  of  the  book  was  not 
published  till  the  following  year.     Copies  of  it  are  exceedingly  rare. — A.  N. 


1772  JOHN  WHITE  EETURNS  209 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1772  John  White  was 
presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Blackburn,  Lancashire, 
doubtless  through  the  influence  of  the  Governor  of 
Gibraltar,  Lieutenant -General  the  Hon.  Edward 
Cornwallis,  brother  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, in  whose  gift  the  living  was.  Mulso  wrote  on 
May  26th  to  his  friend  that  Blackburn,  which  had 
belonged  to  a  former  neighbour  of  his,  was  "  a  very 
good  living,  but  overcharged  with  duty,  and  therefore 
eaten  up  with  curates."  He  went  on  to  the  apposite 
remark,  as  it  unfortunately  turned  out,  that  John 
White  ought  to  have  been  placed  "  more  Southerly 
after  16  years  residence  in  Andalusia." 

The  Naturalist's  Journal  records  John  White's 
movements  at  this  time  with  affectionate  interest. 

"June  17th;  Brother  John  set  out  on  horseback  for 
Cadiz — 19th,  arrived  at  Cadiz — 21st,  Brother  John  sailed 
from  Cadiz  for  England — July  27th,  Brother  John  arrived 
at  Gravesend  in  37  days  from  Cadiz." 

In  June  Mulso  writes  with  more  particulars  of 
the  Blackburn  emoluments. 

"I  hope  to  hear  that  your  brother  and  sister  are  safe 
arrived  and  well  very  soon.  Poor  Jack  Gibraltar  must  cast 
a  longing  eye  towards  the  sea,  and  you  too  must  rejoice  in 
seeing  a  brother  so  long  removed  from  you.  I  wish  you 
a  happy  meeting." 

A  little  later  Harry  White  also  received  a  living, 
the  small  vicarage  of  Uphaven,  Wilts,  which  he  held 
with  his  Fyfield  Kectory. 

VOL.  I. — p 


210  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1772 

To  Samuel  Barker, 

(With  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Sheffield's  as  follows — ) 

Deer.  21,  1772. 

"  My  next  Scene  of  Entertainment  was  in  new  Burlington 
Street  at  Mr.  Banks's.  Indeed  'twas  an  invitation  from  this 
gentleman  that  carried  me  to  town.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
attempt  a  particular  description  of  what  I  saw  here,  it  would 
be  attempting  to  comprize  within  the  Compass  of  a  letter 
what  can  only  be  done  in  several  folio  volumes.  His  house 
is  a  perfect  museum,  every  room  contains  an  inestimable 
treasure.  I  passed  almost  a  whole  day  here  in  the  utmost 
astonishment,  could  scarce  credit  my  senses,  had  I  not  been 
an  eye-witness  of  this  immense  magazine  of  curiosities,  I 
could  not  have  thought  it  possible  for  him  to  have  made 
a  twentieth  part  of  the  collection.  I  have  excited  your 
curiosity,  I  wish  to  gratify  it.  But  the  field  is  so  vast,  and 
my  knowledge  so  superficial,  that  I  dare  not  attempt  par- 
ticulars. I  will  endeavour  to  give  you  a  general  catalogue  of 
the  furniture  of  three  large  rooms ;  first  the  Armoury ;  this 
Room  contains  all  the  warlike  instruments,  mechanical 
instruments,  and  utensils  of  every  kind  made  use  of  by  the 
Indians  in  the  south  Seas,  from  Terra  del  Fuego  to  the 
Indian  Ocean.  Such  as  bows  and  arrows,  darts,  spears  of 
various  sorts  and  lengths,  some  pointed  with  fish,  some  with 
human  bones,  polished  very  finely  and  very  sharp,  scull- 
crackers  of  different  forms  and  sizes,  from  1  to  9  or  10  Feet 
long,  stone-hatchets,  chisels  made  of  human  bones,  canoes, 
paddles,  &c.  It  may  be  observed  here  that  the  Indians  in 
the  south  Seas  were  entire  Strangers  to  the  use  of  iron,  before 
our  countrymen,  and  Monsieur  Bougainville,  arrived  amongst 
them ;  of  course  these  instruments  of  all  sorts  are  made  of 
wood,  stone,  and  some  few  of  bone.  They  are  equally 
strangers  to  the  other  metals :  nor  did  our  adventurers  find 
the  natives,  of  this  part  of  the  globe,  possessed  of  any  one 


1772  BANKS'   MUSEUM  211 

species  of  wealth,  which  could  tempt  the  polite  Europeans 
to  cut  their  throats  and  rob  them.  The  second  room  con- 
tains the  different  habits  and  ornaments  of  the  several 
Indian  nations  they  discovered,  together  with  the  raw 
materials  of  which  they  are  manufactured.  All  the  garments 
of  the  Otaheite  Indians,  &  the  adjacent  islands  are  made 
of  the  inner  bark  of  the  Morus  papyrifera,  and  of  the  bread 
Tree,  Chitodon  altile  ;  this  cloth,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  is  very 
light  and  elegant,  and  has  much  the  appearance  of  writing 
paper,  but  is  more  soft  and  pliant ;  it  seems  excellently 
adapted  to  these  climates;  indeed  most  of  these  tropical 
islands,  if  we  can  credit  our  friend's  description  of  them,  are 
terrestrial  paradises.  The  New  Zelanders,  who  live  in  much 
higher  southern  latitudes,  are  clad  in  a  very  different 
manner;  in  the  winter  they  wear  a  kind  of  mats  made  of 
a  particular  species  of  Cyperus  grass.  In  the  summer  they 
generally  go  naked,  except  a  broad  belt  about  their  loins, 
made  of  the  outer  fibres  of  the  cocoa  nut,  very  neatly  plaited ; 
of  these  materials  they  make  their  fishing  lines  both  here 
and  in  the  tropical  isles.  When  they  go  upon  an  expedition, 
or  pay  or  receive  visits  of  compliment,  the  chieftains  appear 
in  handsome  cloaks  ornamented  with  tufts  of  white  Dog's 
hair ;  the  materials  of  which  these  cloaks  are  made,  are  pro- 
duced from  a  species  of  Hexandria  plant  very  common  in 
new  Zeland;  something  resembling  our  Hemp,  but  of  a 
finer  harl,  and  much  stronger,  and  when  wrought  into 
garments  is  as  soft  as  silk ;  if  the  seeds  of  this  plant  thrive 
with  us,  as  probably  they  will,  this  will  be  perhaps  the  most 
useful  discovery  they  made  in  the  whole  voyage. 

"But  to  return  to  our  second  room.  Here  is  likewise  a 
large  collection  of  insects;  several  fine  specimens  of  the 
bread  &  other  fruits  preserved  in  spirits ;  together  with  a 
compleat  hortus  siccus  of  all  the  plants  collected  in  the 
course  of  the  Voyage.  The  number  of  plants  is  about 
3000 ;  110  of  which  are  new  genera  and  1300  new  species, 


212  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1772 

which  were  never  seen  or  heard  of  before  in  Europe.  "What 
raptures  must  they  have  felt  to  land  upon  countries  where 
everything  was  new  to  them  !  "Whole  forests  of  nondescript 
trees  clothed  with  the  most  beautiful  flowers  and  foliage; 
and  these  too  inhabited  by  several  curious  species  of  birds, 
equally  strangers  to  them.  I  could  be  extravagant  upon 
this  topic ;  but  it  is  time  to  pay  our  compliments  to  the 
third  apartment.  This  room  contains  an  almost  numberless 
collection  of  animals;  quadrupeds,  birds,  fish,  amphibia, 
reptiles,  insects,  and  vermes,  preserved  in  spirits,  most  of 
them  new  and  nondescript.  Here  I  was  lost  in  amazement ; 
and  cannot  attempt  particular  description.  Add  to  these 
the  choicest  collection  of  drawings  in  natural  history  that 
perhaps  ever  enriched  any  cabinet  public  or  private;  987 
plants  drawn  &  coloured  by  Parkinson,  and  1300  or  1400 
more  drawn,  with  each  of  them  a  flower,  a  leaf,  and  a 
portion  of  the  stalk  coloured,  by  the  same  hand,  besides  a 
number  of  other  drawings,  of  animals,  fish,  birds,  &c.  And 
what  is  more  extraordinary  still,  all  the  new  genera  and 
species,  contained  in  this  vast  collection,  are  accurately 
described,  the  descriptions  fairly  transcribed,  and  fit  to  be 
put  to  the  press.  Thus  I  have  endeavoured  to  give  you  an 
imperfect  sketch  of  what  I  saw  in  new  Burlington  Street, 
and  a  very  imperfect  one  it  is." 

Dear  Sam, — As  I  have  promised  for  some  time  to  write  to 
you  without  fulfilling  my  promise,  I  shall,  by  way  of  making 
you  some  amends,  send  you  the  above-written  extract  from 
my  friend  Mr.  Sheffield's  letter,  instead  of  something  of  my 
own  composing.  When  you  and  I  happen  to  meet,  we  will, 
if  you  like,  read  Virgil's  Georgics  together,  with  Martin's 
translation  and  notes;  and  shall,  I  trust,  derive  no  small 
satisfaction  from  that  most  beautiful  of  all  human  com- 
positions.    Ben  White,*  while  with  me,  read  them  through 

*  Eldest  son  of  Gilbert  White's  brother  Benjamin. 


1772  JOHN  WHITE  AT  SELBORNE  213 

three  several  times;  but  he  was  at  that  time  almost  too 
young  to  relish  so  masterly  a  work. 

Give  my  respects  to  your  father,  and  tell  him  I  owe  him 
a  letter,  which  I  intend  to  pay  him  soon ;  and  inform  him 
that  hitherto  our  winter  has  been  remarkably  mild ;  within 
a  fortnight  I  have  cut  grass  for  my  horses ;  and  nasturtiums 
abroad  are  still  in  bloom !  Our  mornings  and  evenings  are 
full  as  mild  now  as  they  usually  are  at  this  season  at 
Gibraltar :  though  at  noon  the  thermometer  is  much  raised 
by  the  sun  at  that  place.  My  thermometer  yesterday  morn- 
ing stood  at  52 !  As  I  have  some  suspicions  about  the 
regularity  of  my  barometer,  pray  send  me  a  journal  of 
your  barometer  for  any  month  past ;  and  let  me  know  if  the 
surface  of  the  quicksilver  in  the  receiver  of  your  barometer 
be  exactly  28  inches  beneath  the  lowest  mark  on  the  plate. 

My  Brother  and  Sister  John  (who  have  been  with  me 
about  a  fortnight)  are  much  favoured  by  this  delicate 
weather,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  tolerably  seasoned  before  severe 
frosts  set  in.  Brother  John  is  frequently  incommoded  by 
hoarseness,  an  infirmity  that  is  very  troublesome  to  a  clergy- 
man. 

Jack  White  is  here,  and  is  my  amanuensis.  The  whoop- 
ing cough  is  crept  in  among  nurse  Butler's  children;  but 
Nanny  Woods  has  not  yet  got  that  troublesome  complaint. 

You  will,  I  hope,  write  soon,  and  let  me  hear  how  you 
succeed  in  your  studies;  and  how  much  you  and  your  sisters 
improve  in  drawing,  and  particularly  in  designing.  Your 
sentiments  on  any  subject  will  be  very  agreeable  to  me. 
All  friends  join  in  respects. 

I  am  y""  affectionate  friend, 

Gil.  White. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  White  spent  the  winter  of 
1772-3  at  Selborne,  during  which  time  the  former 


214  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1773 

continued  a  correspondence  with  Linnaeus,  com- 
menced at  Gibraltar  in  June,  1771.  On  January 
10th  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  I  suppose  your  brother  John  and  his  Lady  are  put  up 
in  cotton  with  some  of  the  Andalusian  rarities,  for  how 
they  can  stand  against  this  severe  weather  after  their 
broiling  on  the  Rock  so  long  I  cannot  imagine.  I  very 
much  long  to  see  them :  should  you  stare  very  much  if 
you  saw  me  come  tottering  down  the  hill  supported  by 
my  man,  and  would  you  allow  me,  as  a  Witney  man,  an 
additional  blanket  ?  and,  as  an  old  soaker,  a  double  portion 
of  your  spirits  ?  For  I  fancy  the  north  side  of  the  Hanger 
to  be  pure  and  cold,  and  to  demand  every  Succedaneum  to 
comfort  and  warmth.  ...  I  reckon  you  have  pure,  hospit- 
able, Christmas  doings  in  your  three  neighbourly  families.* 
Be  jovial  and  refresh  your  hearts,  and  forget  not  in  your 
cup  your  old  and  faithful  friend,  ^  ^         ,, 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  John  White 
during  his  stay  with  his  brother,  on  the  same  sheet 
as  one  of  the  letters  to  Pennant,  which  became 
Letter  XXXVIII.  of  'The  Natural  History  of 
Selborne.' 

To  T.  Pennant 

Selbourn,  Mar.  16,  1773. 

Dear  Sir, — I  am  sorry  our  affairs  do  not  coincide  a  little 
better,  so  as  to  give  us  an  opportunity  of  meeting  in  London. 
According  to  our  present  plan,  my  brother  and  I  propose 
to  be  there  about  the  middle  of  April,  at  which  time  it 

*  i.e.  besides  the  occupants  of  "The  Wakes,"  the  Ettys  at  Selborne 
vicarage,  and  the  Yaldens  at  Newton  Valence  vicarage. 


1773  JOHN  WHITE  TO   PENNANT  215 

is  feared  to  be  you  will  be  returned  into  the  country.  I  am 
obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  offer  concerning  the  drawings, 
but  cannot  yet  positively  say  which  in  particular  I  would 
wish  to  have  copied.  I  must  first  consult  some  of  my 
friends  on  that  head,  and  should  be  glad  of  your  opinion 
in  the  choice  of  them.  Linnaeus  says  the  fish,  which  I  am 
doubtful  whether  to  call  perca,  or  zeus^  is  actually  a  Tiew 
genus  !  I  have  a  good  specimen  which  you  shall  see ;  and  it 
will  be  better  to  draw  from  that  than  my  rude  outline. 
I  shall  now  be  glad  to  collect  all  my  scattered  remarks 
on  the  Nat.  Hist,  of  Gibraltar,  and  shall  beg  the  favour 
of  seeing,  once  more,  those  anecdotes  which  I  have  sent 
you  from  time  to  time,  especially  those  that  relate  to  the 
fishes  and  birds.  I  beg  your  thoughts  on  the  lejpidopus. 
It  certainly  is  what  Gouan  speaks  of,  though  very  different 
in  some  respects.  I  shall  have  a  great  variety  of  new 
insects,  but  I  fear  many  more  are  lost  by  being  too  hastily 
handled  and  examined.  On  examining  the  biggest  of  my 
short-billed  Andalusian  larks,  and  comparing  it  with  the 
British  larks  here,  I  find  it  to  be  the  real  and  genuine 
skylark  Alauda  arvensis.  However,  I  hope  it's  past  all 
doubt  that  I  have  still  two  new  larks.  What  think  you 
of  Gasterosteus  saltatrix  as  I  have  ventured  to  call  it  ?  Yet 
I  fear  it  cannot  be  positively  pronounced  that  species. 
I  would  like  to  have  cuts  of  all  my  new  subjects,  provided 
they  were  well  executed.  But  I  observe  that  all  the  artists, 
who  succeed  pretty  well  in  quadrups.  and  fishes  and  insects, 
are  still  very  defective  in  birds.  Have  you  and  M.  de  Buffon 
adjusted  matters  concerning  the  Scops'?  I  have  a  pretty 
specimen,  but  fear  the  engravers  will  murder  the  delicate 
pencilling  of  that  bird.  I  should  be  happy  to  have  some 
days'  conference  with  you  on  the  more  rare  of  our  subjects, 
before  I  finish  my  Fauna.  I  am  not  so  forward  as  I  could 
wish  for  want  of  having  all  my  specimens  and  materials 
about  me.     If  you  have  any  papers  or  memorials  that  you 


216  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1773 

can  spare  which  may  contribute  to  my  farther  information, 
please  to  leave  them  at  my  brother's  in  Fleet  street.  I  hope 
to  be  at  Blackburn  the  beginning  of  May. 

I  am,  D'  Sir, 

With  much  esteem, 

Y'  most  obed*  serv*, 

J.  White. 

In  your  list  of  Animals  of  Southern  Europe  which  you 
have  got  drawn,  I  cannot  precisely  distinguish  which  of 
them  are  mine,  but  shall  be  glad  if  you  would  put  a  mark 
on  those  which  you  had  from  me. 

A  little  later  the  Naturalist's  Journal  records 
a  visit  to  London  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  White, 
John  White  being  then  very  likely  engaged  upon 
the  business  of  his  proposed  publication  of  his 
*  Fauna  Calpensis.'  Gilbert  White  returned  alone 
on  May  21st. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Selborne,  June  26,  1773. 

Dear  Brother, — Your  favour  of  the  17th  reached  me  last 
Wednesday;  and  about  the  same  time,  I  presume,  you 
received  my  account  about  Jack's  measles.  My  nephew 
continues  perfectly  well,  and  has  not  through  the  distemper 
nor  since  had  the  least  cough.  From  the  time  that  he 
came  home  he  had  somewhat  of  an  hoarseness  in  his  voice, 
which  I  took  at  first  to  be  a  cold;  but  upon  considering 
the  matter,  it  is  owing  no  doubt  to  a  cause  incident  to 
young  men  about  his  time  of  life. 

It  pleases  me  much  to  find  that  you  have  heard  the 
sibilous,  or  shivering  wren ;  *  since  now  you  know  all  the 

*  The  wood-wren  or  warbler  of  modern  English  writers. — A.  N. 


1773  THE  SHIVEKING  WEEN  217 

species ;  and  that  you  have  heard  the  sedge-bird ;  which  for 
variety  of  notes,  and  swift  transitions  from  the  song  of  one 
bird  to  that  of  an  other  is,  I  think,  a  wonderful  fellow,  and 
was  it  not  for  the  hurrying  manner,  would  be  an  elegant 
warbler.  It  is  plain  Mr.  Lever  knows  nothing  of  the  grass- 
hopper-lark ;  if  he  did,  he  could  not  confound  it  with  the 
sedge-bird,  to  which  it  bears  not  the  least  resemblance 
either  in  person,  song,  or  manner  of  life.  Did  the  shivering 
wren  make  its  noise  in  the  tops  of  tall  trees?  Mr.  Lever 
is,  I  perceive,  a  very  adroit  natural  Naturalist ;  it  is  there- 
fore pity  he  does  not  allow  himself  the  advantage  of  books, 
and  call  in  the  assistance  of  system. 

The  sedge-bird  sings  all  night  when  it  is  awake,  therefore 
when  you  throw  stones  or  dirt  into  the  bushes,  you  rouse 
it  from  its  slumbers,  and  set  it  to  work  again. 

You  will  be  very  busy,  no  doubt,  in  your  repairs,  and 
will  meet,  I  hope,  with  no  disappointments.  I  thought  a 
fortnight  ago  that  I  was  going  to  build  a  chamber  full  speed. 
I  had  bespoke  a  mason  in  the  room  of  Long,  who  was  pre- 
engaged  ;  and  Jack  was  to  have  been  the  Comptroller 
general  of  my  Majesty's  works;  but  just  as  I  was  going 
to  lay  in  all  materials  my  Mason  sent  me  word  he  had 
got  an  other  job,  and  could  not  do  mine  'til  after  harvest. 

For  these  three  days  past  we  have  had  the  king  at 
Portsmouth ;  and  have  heard  continual  firings,  which  shook 
my  house.  My  s*foin  is  down ;  but  the  weather  is  unsettled. 
Mr.  Lever  has  procured  the  canne  petiere*  in  Lancashire; 
Mr.  Pennant  mentions  one  shot  in  Cornwall.  Some  boys 
killed  lately  at  Oakhanger-ponds  some  flappers  or  young 
wild-ducks ;  among  the  rest  they  took  some  young  teals 
alive;  one  I  saw,  and  turned  into  James  Knight's  ponds. 
'Til  now  I  never  knew  that  teals  bred  in  England.  So  you 
see  new  information  crowds  in  every  day.  Was  not  the 
sibilous  bird  that  you  heard  the  real  grasshopper-lark; 
*  The  little  bustard  {Otis  tetrax).—K.  N. 


218  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1773 

did  it  haunt  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  or  low  bush- 
hedges;  did  it  sing  by  night  0  by  day?  Many  children 
continue  to  die  of  the  measles,  among  the  rest  the 
youngest  of  Mrs.  Hale's  this  morning;  and  the  whooping 
cough  rather  gets  worse  than  better.  Poor  Nanny  Woods's 
cough  is  very  bad;  and  she  is  very  weak,  and  mends  very 
slowly. 
Mr.  Knight  of  Street  house  is  dead. 

With  respects  to  my  sister,  I  remain 

Your  affectionate,  and  obliged  brother, 

Gil.  White. 

Earlier  in  the  year  Mrs.  Chapone  had  published 
her  *  Letters  on  the  Improvement  of  the  Mind,' 
which  were  written  for  the  instruction  of  her  niece, 
Miss  Mulso.  Though  Mrs.  Chapone  is  best  known 
to  the  present  generation  as  an  object  of  Thackeray's 
satire,  her  brother,  John  Mulso,  was  able  to  write 
to  his  friend,  dating  from  Meonstoke,  July  5th, 
1773— 

"  My  sister  Chapone  ...  I  have  not  seen  since  the  great 
harvest  of  her  fame.  She  is  much  gratified  by  the  praises 
that  resound  on  all  sides,  and  indeed  I  fairly  think  that  she 
deserves  them." 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Selborne,  Aug.  2,  1773. 

Dear  Brother, — I  find  you  still,  as  well  as  when  you 
resided  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pyrenean  mountains,  my 
most  steady  and  communicative  correspondent;  and  there- 
fore it  will  be  my  own  fault  if  our  epistolary  intercourse 
should  languish. 

Jack  has  had  a  frock  of  a  good  dark  colour;   and  shall 


1773 


THE   SEDGE-BIRD  219 


have  a  pair  of  lamb-skin  breeches  soon.  Jack  behaves 
very  well,  and  is  very  obliging;  and  in  his  readiness  to 
assist,  and  put  an  helping  hand,  often  puts  me  in  mind 
of  a  gentlewoman  that  is  very  nearly  related  to  him. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Etty  take  a  great  deal  of  notice  of  him, 
and  have  him  to  dine  every  Sunday. 

No  doubt  your  wren  that  you  saw  was  the  shivering 
wren.  So  Mr.  Lever  does  not  know  the  grasshopper-lark ; 
that  is  plain.  But  as  it  has  done  whispering  there  will 
be  no  procuring  one  'til  next  season.  He  seems  also  to 
be  unacquainted  with  the  laughing  sort. 

If  you  were  to  recollect  you  would  call  to  mind  that 
my  letters  to  Mr.  Pennant  are  full  of  accounts  of  the 
sedge-bird.  It  was  by  my  means  that  that  bird,  when 
omitted  totally  in  the  *  Zoology ' :  was  inserted  in  the 
Appendix.*  Mr.  Pennant  had  seen  it  in  Lincolnshire,  but 
did  not  at  all  know  what  to  make  of  it,  nor  how  to 
ascertain  it.  He  was  misled  by  Ray's  classing  it  among 
the  " Pids  affines"]  Your  appellative  of  polyglott  pleases 
me  so  much  that  I  shall  adopt  it.  It  has  the  notes  of 
many  birds:  and  could  it  be  persuaded  not  to  sing  in 
such  an  hurry  would  be  an  elegant  songster.  They  abound 
with  us,  especially  on  the  verge  of  the  forest:  and  are 
sometimes  at  James  Knight's  ponds.  In  short,  wherever 
there  are  pools  or  streams. 

Mr.  Lever  may  very  probably  be  right  with  respect  to 
the  short-eared  owl.  I  have  always  suspected  that  Mr. 
P[ennant]'s  tawny  owl  and  brown  owl  were  only  different 
sexes  of  the  same  species. 

I  am  sorry  that  you  met  with  such  a  rebuff  at  Mid- 
summer, such  a  cold  and  dismal  summer  solstice.     For  if 

*  p.  16,  plate  X.  (1770). 

t  '  Synopsis  Methodica  Avium,'  p.  47,  No.  3.  In  Gilbert  White's  own 
copy  of  Ray's  work,  now  in  my  possession,  he  has  written  "Sedge-bird"  on 
the  margin. — A.  N. 


220  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1773 

these  things  were  done  in  a  green  tree,  what  will  be 
done  in  the  dry  ?  Indeed  we  had  at  that  season  cold,  wet, 
black  weather:  but  from  July  the  7th  to  this  time  have 
enjoyed  the  most  lovely  season  that  ever  was  seen;  both 
as  to  sun  for  our  hay,  and  since  soft  showers  for  our 
meadows,  gardens  and  turneps.  I  have  a  prospect  of  a 
very  fine  crop  of  grapes  on  the  walls  of  my  house.  Pray 
revive  your  journal  without  loss  of  time.  The  wind 
was  very  far  from  being  constantly  N.  with  us  for  a  month 
before  you  wrote :  it  was  very  much  so  indeed  from  June 
27th  to  July  3rd  inclusive:  but  the  week  before  was  all 
S.W.  to  a  day :  but  then  again  from  June  13th  to  the  19th 
it  was  pretty  much  N.E.  and  N.W.  at  different  ends  of  the 
week. 

I  shall  write  to  Mr.  Twiss  soon,  and  repeat  my  invitation. 
From  the  time  that  the  widow  returned  from  her  bathing 
in  the  sea  she  began  to  be  less  cruel;  and  last  week  she 
consented  to  make  Mr.  Webb*  happy:  they  kept  their 
wedding  at  Newton.  Mr.  Y[alden]  was  so  delighted  with 
the  event,  that  he  made  verses  on  it:  the  strangest  verses 
you  ever  saw.  He  made  also  a  copy  on  his  new  alcove: 
they  are  all  alexandrines,  and  wonderfully  unwieldly;  and 
very  much  like  those  before  '  Pilgrim's  Progress.'  It  is 
pity  that  so  worthy  a  man  should  be  troubled  with  such 
an  infirmity ! 

The  story  of  the  Aurora  is  all  contradicted. 

It  is  pity  that  you  can't  hear  from  Linnaeus:  you  had 
better  write  again. 

Some  boys  went  to  hunt  flappers  (young  wild  ducks)  last 
month  in  the  forest:  among  the  ducks  they  caught  some 
minute  wild  fowls  alive.  I  examined  them,  and  found  them 
to  be  young  teals ;  but  never  had  suspected  that  teals  ever 
bred  in  our  parts  'til  now !  I  redeemed  one  and  turned  it 
into  J.  Knight's  ponds. 

*  The  doctor  at  Alton. 


1773  CLERICAL  LEASES  221 

Thomas  Corston  has  brought  Berriman  a  certificate  of  his 
marriage  with  Mary  Gregory  in  the  church  of  St.  George's, 
Hanover  Square,  in  Feb.  1771.  The  extract  was  taken 
April  24th,  1773.  It  is  on  a  55.  stamp  and  looks  as  if 
it  was  genuine.     Corston  has  called  since. 

This  evening  I  expect  from  Fyfield  brother  Thomas  and 
master  Brocket ;  and  brother  Henry  and  Thomas  Holt 
White.*     The  two  former  are  on  their  way  to  London. 

When  did  you  get  into  your  house  ? 

Jack  joins  in  respects. 

Your  aff.  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 
Harvest  does  not  begin  'til  next  week. 

To-day  sweet  summer  weather  after  showers. 

Bro.  Harry  was  told  in  Oxford  that  Linnaeus  is  certainly 

dead,  f 

[From  Thomas  White,  on  the  same  sheet  as  the 
above.] 

I  should  have  sooner  replied  to  your  letter  on  the  11th 
of  last  month,  but  have  been  much  from  home  since  that 
time ;  Your  wine  in  bottles  is  sent  to  the  Care  of  Mess" 
Benson  and  Postlewait  at  Liverpool  directed  for  Mr.  Jos. 
Fielden,  Blackburn  I.W.  [sic].  Soon  after  I  received  your 
letter  I  fell  into  company  in  the  Cambridge  Stage  with  Mr. 
Clapham  who  is  secretary  to  the  bishop  of  Chester  and  several 
others,  he  says  there  is  but  one  vicar  in  the  north  who  has 
power  to  let  21  years  leases,  it  is  continued  by  him  as  an 
antient  custom,  but  Mr.  C.  is  certain  would  not  be  allowed 
to  others,  as  it  is  very  liable  to  abuse,  altho'  it  might  be 
beneficial  in  yours  and  some  other  cases.  I  shall  return 
to  London  to-morrow  and  will  execute  your  commissions  soon. 
My  Buxton  scheme  is  prevented  by  business  that  will  not 

*  Eldest  8011  of  Gilbert  White's  brother  Thomas, 
t  He  did  not  die  until  1778.— A.  N. 


222  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1773 

suffer  me  to  be  away  so  long  as  one  might  rationally  expect 
benefit  from  * 

I  am  not  surprized  at  what  you  mention  concerning 
Mr.  P[ennant],  it  is  not  improbable  but  that  you  may  see 
your  birds  and  fishes  of  which  he  has  drawings,  in  some 
future  publications  of  his.  Pray  remember  me  to  my  sister 
and  believe  me  to  be 

Yours  very  affectionately 

Tho.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Sep.  11,  1773. 

Dear  Brother, — Your  last  letter  but  one  and  my  last 
crossed,  I  believe,  on  the  Eoad.  I  am  now  to  thank  you 
for  your  frank  of  Aug.  25. 

As  to  Jack  he  is  no  trouble  or  inconvenience  to  me ;  but 
of  real  use :  and  therefore  I  desire  he  may  stay  as  long  as 
ever  you  can  spare  him.  Moreover  I  wish  you  and  my 
sister,  while  your  house  drys,  would  come  and  spend  one 
more  winter  with  me.  You  might  put  in  an  elderly,  grave 
person  for  that  period  to  make  fires,  and  take  care  of  your 
goods,  and  defer  the  hiring  of  servants  'til  spring.  I  will 
endeavour  to  do  every  thing  to  make  the  winter  as  easy  to 
you  as  possible :  you  shall  have  a  bed  put  up  in  the  drawing- 
room,  and  a  grate,  where  you  shaU  have  a  constant  fire,  by 
which  you  may  instruct  your  son,  and  fabricate  your  Fauna. 
As  my  sister,  I  know  by  agreeable  experience,  is  of  an 
active  disposition,  she  shall,  if  she  pleases,  manage  my 
house,  and  see  to  provisions ;  and  we  shall,  if  it  pleases  God 
to  bless  us  with  health,  I  trust,  pass  the  dead  season  of  the 
year  in  no  uncomfortable  way :  and  at  the  return  of  spring 
I  will  let  you  depart  in  peace ;  and  wiU  follow  you  in  the 
summer  into  Lancashire.  All  this  proposal  is  the  result  of 
a  sincere  intention :  and  therefore  I  hope  you  will  think  of 

*  Letter  torn. 


1773  INVITATION   TO   JOHN   WHITE  223 

it  in  earnest,  and  not  let  the  consideration  of  a  long  coach- 
journey  (which  is  not  so  formidable  to  either  of  you  as  to 
some  others)  prevent  the  comfort  and  satisfaction  I  propose 
from  such  an  undertaking.  When  you  write  again  I  hope 
to  discover  that  you  have  considered  this  matter,  and  will  be 
so  kind  as  to  think  of  putting  it  into  execution. 

Mr.  Derham  in  his  *  Physico-theol.'  incidentally  mentions 
D'  Leigh's  'Natural  History  of  Lancashire,'  which  perhaps 
Mr.  Lever  has  got,  and  you  should  see. — If  I  err  about  the 
Mot.  ficedula,  I  err  in  good  company :  for  your  bird  is  in- 
disputably the  bird  that  Linn,  means  by  Mot.  f.  and  yet 
he  all  the  while  acknowledges  that  it  has  "mandibula 
superior  utrinque  emarginata,  et  latere  vibrissata,"  which  are 
the  characteristics  of  a  Miisicapa.  In  Edwards  there  are  cuts 
of  the  male  and  female.  As  to  myself  I  can't  help  thinking 
that  your  bird  is  of  a  plumper  and  shorter  habit  than  the 
cock  coldfinch  *  with  a  white  forehead :  besides  you  sent 
many  like  the  cocks  that  had  no  white  in  their  foreheads. 
Mr.  Shaw,  I  see,  in  the  papers,  is  preferred :  I  am  glad  he 
continues  to  send  you  new  birds.  The  lark-like  bird  may 
probably  be  as  you  say. 

As  to  beer  I  hop  moderately  at  the  making;  perhaps 
half  pound  to  the  bushel;  and  then  put  in  more  when  it 
has  done  working,  perhaps  half  pound  to  the  half  hogshead : 
scalding  them  in  water,  and  putting  them  in  when  cold. 
They  will  never  sink  if  put  in  dry.  I  have  now  at  tap 
again  excellent  beer. — From  August  9th  to  14th  inclusive 
was  most  wonderfully  hot.  My  thermometer  on  the  13th 
was  up  to  78 J° ;  on  that  day  in  the  evening  came  a  violent 
thunderstorm  which  about  London  did  great  damage.  Jack 
and  I  were  all  that  week  at  Mr.  Mulso's  at  Meonstoke.  In 
the  night  between  the  18th  and  19th  of  August  there  was 

*  For  some  reason  which  I  have  never  been  able  to  discover  what  is  now 
called  the  ' '  pied  fly-catcher  "  (the  bird  here  in  question)  was  called  coldfinch 
—a  name  which  seems  to  be  now  entirely  abandoned. — A.  N. 


224  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1773 

a  violent  storm  from  the  N.  which  damaged  all  our  hops  to  a 
great  degree,  and  particularly  Sir  S,  Stuart's  which  were  very- 
fine.     Hops  will  be  dear,  and  bad. 

Mrs.  W.  Isaac  is  with  me  at  present.  She  brought  her 
son  Bap[tist]  that  he  might  stand  for  a  scholarship  of 
Winton  Coll.  we  went  this  week,  and  left  him  with  the 
usher,  where  he  is  to  continue  as  a  commoner  'til  taken 
into  College.  My  wall  has  produced  about  10  dozen  of 
most  lovely  peaches  and  nectarines :  and  I  have  a  fine  show 
for  grapes. 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  Twiss,  and  invited  him  to  come : 
but  he  says  he  cannot  possibly  be  spared  from  the  fortifica- 
tions 'til  Winter. 

Swifts  left  us  about  the  hot  week.  Young  martins  continue 
to  come  out  daily. 

[N'anny  Woods  is  quite  recovered. 

Mr.  Etty's  Portugal  brother  is  here  at  present. 

How  can  Mr.  Curtis*  leave  his  shop,  and  go  to  Gibraltar 
in  pursuit  of  natural  history  ? 

Jack  makes  English  themes,  and  writes  letters :  we  have 
gone  through  Phaed.  and  now  read  Virg.  Georgics,  and 
Sallust. 

Mr.  Lever,  I  find,  is  an  excellent  practical  ornithologist : 
if  we  are  to  correspond,  who  is  to  break  the  ice  ?  and  on 
what  subjects  are  we  to  exchange  thoughts  ?  He  will,  I  hope, 
study  system. 

Mr.  Bassat's  new  house  is  all  wild  still ;  no  room  finished  : 
he  will  run  into  great  expense. 

We  have  now  a  very  wet  and  windy  season :  a  sad  time 
for  barley -harvest,  and  hop-picking :  most  of  our  wheat  was 
housed  in  very  nice  order. 

*  William  Curtis,  author  of  the  'Flora  Londinensis, '  and  several 
entomological  works.  He  was  also  the  discoverer  of  the  real  nature  of 
honey-dew,  but  not  to  be  confounded  with  John  Curtis,  a  very  well-known 
entomologist. — A.  N. 


1773  BULFINCH   CHANGING  COLOUR  225 

I  have  some  hopes  of  seeing  Skinner  soon.     Mrs.  Isaac, 

Niece  Molly  White  who  came  with  her,  and  Jack  join  in 

respects. 

Y'  affect.  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 

To  Thomas  Barker. 

Selborne,  Sepr.  14, 1773. 

Dear  Sir, — I  can  readily  give  you  credit  for  the  change  of 
colour  that  befell  the  bulfinch ;  because  when  I  first  under- 
took the  church  of  Faringdon,  the  person  where  I  used 
to  dine  on  a  Sunday  caught  a  cock  bulfinch  in  the  fields 
after  it  had  arrived  at  its  full  colours.  In  about  a  twelve 
month  it  began  to  grow  dingy,  and  losing  by  degrees  its  gay 
apparel,  it  became  leisurely,  in  I  think  about  three  years,  as 
black  or  blacker  than  a  blackbird,  all  save  some  of  its  wing 
feathers,  which  continued  white,  at  least  in  part.  This  bird 
remained  in  this  mourning  garb  to  the  day  of  its  death ;  and 
lived,  I  perfectly  remember,  altogether  on  hemp-seed;  a 
kind  of  food  which,  I  have  heard  before,  has  a  tendency 
to  blacken  those  birds  that  live  altogether  upon  it.  The 
owner  of  the  bulfinch  had  at  the  same  time  a  skylark  which 
was  supported  altogether  in  the  same  manner,  and  became 
very  dusky,  but  not  black. 

Be  pleased  to  remember  that  though  I  happened  to  have 
seen  a  similar  case,  yet  I  look  upon  the  phsenomenon  as 
odd  and  extraordinary;  and  am  much  obliged  to  you  for 
your  information,  and  shall  be  for  the  future  for  any  curious 
anecdote  that  falls  in  your  way. 

From  the  9th  of  August  to  the  14th  inclusive  the  heat 
was  very  severe  night  and  day;  and  on  the  13th  in  the 
evening  arose  from  the  S.  that  great  tempest  of  thunder 
and  lightening  which  did  so  much  damage  in  and  about 
London.  The  rain  attending  that  storm  was  of  signal  service 
to  the  hops,  which  before  began  to  languish.  But  in  the 
night  between  the  18th  and  19th  of  August  such  a  wind 

VOL.  I. — Q 


226  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1773 

came  from  the  N.  that  it  well  nigh  demolished  all  the 
plantations.  In  Sir  S.  Stuart's  garden  consisting  of  20  acres 
not  one  pole  was  left  standing  for  many  acres  together ;  and 
as  his  crop  was  remarkably  fine,  he  suffered  the  loss  of  many 
hundreds  of  pounds  in  that  one  night.  Since  the  storm 
hops  have  never  thriven;  and  are  now  picking;  but  are 
small,  and  brown ;  and  will  be  very  dear  and  poor  and 
ordinary.  My  thermometer  on  the  13  th  of  August  was 
at  78 J  within  doors. 

In  the  beginning  of  wheat  harvest  we  had  some  rain 
which  frightened  some  farmers  and  made  them  house  some 
of  their  wheat  too  soon ;  but  on  the  whole  the  wheat  went 
in  in  most  curious  order.  As  to  the  spring  corn  both  here 
and  on  the  downs  it  all  lies  abroad  in  a  bad  way,  for  we 
have  had  nothing  but  rain  since  Sep.  1.  Apples  fail  in 
general;  I  have  again,  as  I  had  last  year,  more  than  my 
share ;  but  not  one  pear.  My  Apricots  were  almost  all  cut 
off  in  bloom ;  but  I  have  on  my  wall  about  10  dozen  of  the 
best  ripened  peaches  and  nectarines  that  I  ever  saw,  that 
are  now  in  high  perfection.  My  crop  of  grapes  is  very 
great,  of  which  I  shall  begin  gathering  to-morrow ;  and  they 
will  supply  my  table  constantly  'til  the  frosts  strip  the  trees 
of  their  leaves.  I  wait  much  on  my  vines,  and  have  them 
trained  with  great  care  and  exactness. 

My  s*foin  was  much  damaged ;  but  my  meadow-hay  was 
got  up  in  nice  order.  Hay  has  proved  a  prodigious  crop 
in  all  parts.  Brother  Thomas  writes  that  some  farmers  in 
Essex  offer  to  sell  it  at  Xmass  next  at  25s.  per  ton  out  of 
the  rick ;  and  a  year  ago  it  was  with  us  at  £4.  4s.  Od. 

I  cannot  think  that  the  wheat  with  us  is  any  thing  of 

a  crop. 

Your  affectionate  Brother, 

and  humble  servant, 

Gil.  White. 


1773  DISPUTES  AT  OKIEL  227 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.  c^  ,,  ^  .    -,  .    ihrhro 

Selborne,  Octr  1st,  1773. 

Dear  Brother, — If  my  last  letter  surprized  and  distressed 
you,  it  occasioned  very  different  impressions  from  what 
were  intended.  For  therein  I  proposed  to  imply  how  much 
satisfaction  I  had  received  from  your  company  and  my 
sister's  last  winter:  and  could  not  help  perswading  myself 
that  it  might  have  been  in  your  power  to  have  repeated 
your  visit  for  one  winter  more  without  any  great  im- 
propriety, and  any  farther  inconvenience  than  some  personal 
trouble. 

You  say  I  may  easily  throw  up  my  church,  and  come 
down  to  you;  which  I  ought  to  do,  and  fully  intend:  but 
then  when  I  once  relinquish  my  employ,  I  cannot  reassume 
it  when  I  please,  even  though  I  find  myself  ever  so  much 
becalmed  for  want  of  something  to  call  me  forth,  and 
employ  my  body  and  mind. 

I  must  on  the  12th  of  October  set  out  for  Oxford,  where  I 
must  stay  about  ten  days.  There  are  at  College,  I  find,  like 
to  be  uneasinesses  and  disputes  about  offices,  and  residence : 
so  that  I  am  not  able  yet  to  guess  whether  I  shall  not  be 
called  on  by  and  by  to  be  stationed  there  for  a  time. 

As  soon  as  I  return  Jack  and  I  must  set  out  on  a  visit  to 
Mrs.  Snooke,  by  whom  we  have  been  called  on  all  the 
summer  to  turn  our  horses'  heads  that  way :  but  something 
or  other  has  still  intervened. 

Thus  you  see  my  time  is  cut  out  'til  the  middle  of 
November,  and  after  that  my  fate  is  at  present  dubious; 
however,  I  will  be  sure  to  write  to  you  in  a  more  satisfactory 
manner  from  Oxford,  at  which  place  I  shall  hope  to  hear 
from  you  before  the  20th,  on  which  day  I  intend  to  return. 

Pray  write  single  on  your  letters;  for  the  last,  tho'  only 
half  a  sheet,  was  charged  double  postage. 

Jack  joins  in  respects.  Your  affect.  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 


228  GILBEET   WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1773 

Jack  has  gone  through  several  volumes  of  the  *  Spectator/ 
and  now  seems  much  delighted  with  Derham's  *  Physico- 
theol/  He  does  not  manage  yet  to  read  Virgil  with  that 
exactness  of  quantity  that  might  now  be  expected ;  but 
construes  well  both  in  prose  and  verse.  Brother  Ben  was 
very  urgent  with  me  that  you  should  not  become  a  magis- 
trate without  very  mature  deliberation;  because  he  had 
been  informed  that  some  of  your  predecessors  as  magistrates 
had  met  with  great  vexation  from  the  mob  of  so  populous  a 
town.     Did  he  ever  mention  the  matter  to  you  ? 

To  make  me  consistent  with  myself  you  must  suppose 
that  I  have  heard  of  the  probable  disputes  at  College  since  I 
wrote  last  to  you.  However,  I  do  not  suppose  I  shall  be 
called  on  this  winter.  We  have  had  nothing  bub  wet, 
windy,  cloudy  weather  since  the  first  of  September.  Most 
of  the  barley  is  abroad ;  some  of  it  has  been  cut  this  month. 
Hops  will  be  dear:  they  were  half  destroyed  by  the  wind. 
Martins  and  swallows  abound. 

The  statement  about  the  "  disputes "  at  Oriel, 
confirmed  as  it  is  by  mention  in  Mulso's  letters  of 
"the  perverse  party"  at  the  College,  rather  tends  to 
show  that  Oxford  was  much  in  the  same  state  as 
when  Hearne  wrote,  in  1726:  "There  are  such 
differences  now  in  the  University  of  Oxford  (hardly 
one  college  but  where  all  the  members  are  busied  in 
law  business  and  quarrels  not  at  all  relating  to  the 
promotion  of  learning),  that  good  letters  decay  every 
day,  insomuch  that  this  ordination  on  Trinity 
Sunday  at  Oxford  there  were  no  fewer  (as  I  am 
informed)  than  fifteen  denied  orders  for  insufficiency, 
which  is  the  more  to  be  noted  because  our  bishops 
and  those  employed  by  them  are  illiterate  men." 


1773  BANKS  AND  LIGHTFOOT  229 

From  Mr.  Skinner* 

Purley,  Berks,  Oct.  17,  1773. 

Dear  Sir, — I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  the  favour 
of  your  two  last  letters;  one  of  which  I  found  upon  my 
arrival  at  this  place  some  time  after  the  date;  the  other, 
after  various  peregrinations,  got  at  length  to  Oxford  a 
second  time,  from  whence  I  have  lately  received  it.  I 
return  my  sincerest  thanks  for  the  very  friendly  invitation 
they  give  me  to  Selborne ;  which,  from  the  former  specimens 
I  have  received  there  of  your  obliging  hospitality,  I  could 
heartily  wish  to  accept.  But  having  been  detained  much 
longer  in  Brecknock-shire  than  I  intended,  I  am  now  under 
a  necessity  of  returning  to  Oxford  in  a  day  or  two.  How- 
ever, I  flatter  myself  with  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  at 
Selborne  some  time  in  the  next  summer.  .  .  . 

In  July  last  I  spent  an  evening  with  Mr.  Banks  and 
Mr.  Lightfootf  at  Brecknock.  They  had  been  botanizing 
from  Bristol  through  the  counties  of  Glamorgan,  Carmarthen, 
and  Pembroke ;  and  had  been  very  successful.  In  the 
environs  of  St.  Vincent's  Eock  only  (visited  by  every 
botanist)  they  found  three  new  British  plants  (one  of  them 
the  Arbutus  uva-ursi),  and  afterwards  several  others  that 
were  either  new  or  very  dubious,  as  not  having  been  found 
by  the  botanists  of  the  present  age.  Among  the  former, 
Sison  mrticillatumy  a  common  plant  in  the  meadows  of 
Carmarthenshire ;  among  the  latter,  Cheiranthus  sinuatus, 
Adiantum  capillus-  Veneris,  and  a  species  of  Festvxa  unknown 

*  Fellowof  C.C.C,  Oxford. 

t  John  Lightfoot,  born  1735,  entered  Pembroke  College,  Oxon.,  1753; 
B.A.  1756;  M.A.  1766;  librarian  and  chaplain  to  the  Duchess  of  Portland; 
curate  of  Colnbrook,  near  Uxbridge ;  1772  travelled  in  Scotland  with  Pennant, 
and  at  his  expense  published  the  'Flora  Scotica'  in  1778;  catalogued  the 
Portland  collection  on  the  Duchess's  death  in  1788,  and  soon  after  died  him- 
self, at  Uxbridge.  His  herbarium,  bought  by  King  George  III.,  is  now  at 
Kew.  He  discovered  the  reed-wren,  and  described  it  in  '  Philos.  Trans.,' 
1785.  F.R.S.  1781,  and  an  original  F.L.S.  His  MS.  journal  of  his  excursion 
in  Wales  is  in  the  Botanical  Department  of  the  British  Museum  — A.  N. 


230  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1773 

to  Linnseus,  but  figured  in  Ray's  '  Synopsis/  Tab.  17,  Fig.  2., 
Vide  p.  413,  with  several  others  I  do  not  immediately 
recollect.  They  were  bound  to  Snowdon,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  which  they  proposed  to  spend  five  or  six  weeks. 
I  have  not  heard  of  their  success.  But  as  Lightfoot  had 
with  great  accuracy  collected  the  names  and  places  of  all 
the  curious  plants  they  hoped  to  find,  from  Ray  and  others, 
I  presume  the  journey,  which  was  new  to  both  of  them,  has 
not  been  thrown  away.  You  have,  I  believe,  seen  Lightfoot 
since  his  Scotch  Tour  with  Mr.  Pennant,  and  of  course  have 
heard  that  he  discovered  many  plants  that  had  escaped 
the  Scottish  botanists.  Mr.  Yalden  is  now  in  Scotland, 
studying  physic  at  Edinburgh;  and,  as  he  is  to  be  part 
of  his  time  in  the  Highlands,  I  make  no  doubt,  will  make 
farther  discoveries.  He  is  not  expected  to  return  under  two 
years. 

About  the  middle  of  August  I  saw  our  friend  Sheffield  on 
a  physiological  ramble,  in  a  state  of  uncertainty  whether  he 
should  cross  the  Irish  Channel  or  not.  I  recommended  him 
to  Aberystwith  partly  as  the  best  place  in  South  Wales  for 
a  passage  to  Dublin,  and  partly  because  the  coast  of  Cardigan- 
shire was  left  untouched  by  Lightfoot  and  Banks.  .  .  . 

The  last  advice  I  had  of  Linnaeus  was  from  Mr.  Banks,  to 
whom  he  had  written,  but  a  little  before,  with  a  good  deal 
of  chagrin,  for  not  having  sent  him  the  specimens  of  the 
South  Sea  plants  he  had  promised  him.  He  said,  "  he  was 
an  old  man ;  and  that  if  it  was  intended  he  should  ever  see 
them,  the  sooner  they  were  sent  the  better."  Mr.  Banks 
thought  he  was  well. 

I  am  with  great  esteem, 

Your  obliged  friend,  &c., 

R.  Skinner. 

p.S._"What  advices  of  or  from  the  Island  of  St.  Matthew  ? 
Any  new  birds  from  my  old  friend  John  White  ? — or  intelli- 


1773 


LATE  MAKTINS  231 


gence  of  the  Senegal  swallows  ?  I  hope  they,  as  well  as  the 
Govemour  &c.  have  escaped  the  massacre  of  the  natives, 
mentioned  in  the  newspapers. 

Tho*  Cooper  Bp.  of  Winton  Author  of  the  dictionary,  lyes 
buried  in  one  of  the  Churches  of  the  Borough  of  Southwark ; 
I  forget  which,  having  neither  Wood's  '  Athense '  or  *  Godwin 
de  Prgesulibus '  to  consult.  The  Vicar  of  Selborne  who  made 
the  entry  seems  to  have  been  an  oddity.* 

From  the  Naturalist's  Journal- 

"Oct.  21.  Saw  several  martins  at  Dorchester,  in  Oxford- 
shire, round  the  Church.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  swallow 
kind  appear  full  as  late  in  the  midland  counties  as  in  the 
maritime,  a  circumstance  this  more  favourable  to  hiding 
than  migration.  As  it  proved  these  were  the  last  martins 
that  I  saw." 

To  the  Bev,  John  White. 

Selborne,  Novr.  2nd,  1773. 

I  cannot  deny  that  I  did  receive  your  letter  while  at 
Oxford;  but  then  my  short  time  was  so  totally  taken  up 
with  the  accounts,  and  the  common  room,  and  a  little 
visiting,  that  I  never  had  the  resolution  to  sit  down  to  a 
regular  letter. 

Just  before  I  came  away,  Skinner  came  up  from  a  twelve- 
month's sojourning  at  Brecknock  to  a  regular  residence  in 
College;  he  made  me  dine  and  sup  and  spend  the  whole 
day  with  him ;  and  is  the  same  chatty,  communicative, 
intelligent,  gouty,  indolent  mortal  that  he  used  to  be. 
Moreover,  he  had  written  me  a  long  letter!  just  before  I 
saw  him,  which  arrived  at  Selborne  some  posts  after  I  got 
home.  He  is  now  first  oars  with  regard  to  College  pre- 
ferment, and  provided  Dr.  Patten  should  die  (who  is  in  a 

*  Vide  *  The  Antiquities  of  Selborne,'  Letter  VI. 


232  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1773 

very  dangerous  way)  he  will  succeed  to  a  living  of  more 
than  £400  per  ann. 

Jack  did  not  go  with  me  to  College,  for  I  well  knew  that 
if  he  had  I  could  not  have  been  with  him  one  tenth  of 
the  time:  however,  by  means  of  his  old  friends  at  the 
vicarage,  and  at  Newton  he  was  left  very  little  with  the 
servants.  We  are  to  set  out  on  Monday  next  on  a  visit 
to  Eingmer ;  and  nephew  Benjamin  who  is  visiting  with 
his  father  and  mother  and  sisters  at  Newton,  is  to  accom- 
pany us.  We  intend  to  stay  two  Sundays.  Last  week 
I  began  taking  away  the  earth  of  my  grass-plot  and  walk  at 
my  garden  door,  so  as  to  destroy  the  two  steps  and  to  level 
the  ground  quite  on  to  the  alcove.  We  were  much  inter- 
rupted at  first  by  rain ;  but  now  go  on  swimmingly.  When 
completed  the  job  will  be  tant%  and  the  nuisance  of  two 
slippery  steps  removed. 

Poor  Mrs.  Snooke  writes  me  word  that  she  has  the  gout 
in  one  hand  and  both  feet,  and  what  is  worse  a  terrible 
swelled  leg  that  threatens  her  with  the  dropsy. 

And  now  as  to  my  visit  into  Lancashire.  I  am  very 
desirous,  as  indeed  I  ought,  to  make  you  a  visit.  But  this 
cannot  be  brought  about  'til  after  Xmass ;  for  in  the  first 
place  our  journey  to  Sussex  will  take  up  half  the  space 
between  this  and  that;  and  in  the  next  place  I  am 
hampered  with  a  breaking  tenant  at  Greatham,  whom  I 
want  to  remove  before  I  leave  these  parts.  And  by  Xmass, 
I  fear,  the  severe  weather  will  much  impede  our  expedition, 
which  will  be  a  sort  of  migration  reversed,  to  the  N.  instead 
of  the  S.  However,  if  it  please  God  to  enable  me,  I  hope  to 
get  to  you  some  time  in  January.  I  rejoice  much  to  hear 
that  you  have  at  last  got  possession  of  your  house;  and 
indeed,  was  I  ready  now,  some  time  would  be  needful  for 
you  to  settle  a  little  before  any  visitors  came  upon  you. 

It  is  pleasant  to  hear  that  the  spirit  of  Natural  enquiries 
subsists  still  at  Gibraltar.     There  is  a  muscle,  perhaps  your 


1773 


GOES  TO  KINGMEK  233 


dactyl,*  that  gets  into  the  cliffs  on  the  coasts  of  Sussex,  and 
terebrates  the  chalk  in  a  most  curious  manner.  You  saw, 
I  think,  a  piece  of  chalk  so  bored  at  my  house.  I  have 
received  a  most  violent  complimenting  letter  from  Mr. 
Pennant  lately.  He  is  going  to  publish  a  second  edition 
of  '  British  Zoology,'  and  is  to  do  wonders  with  the  in- 
formation extracted  from  my  letters.  I  shall  take  the 
opportunity  of  laying  before  him  the  more  glaring  faults 
in  the  first  edition.!  Ice  this  morning!  My  grapes  are 
now  delicate.  Pray  write  while  I  am  at  Ringmer.  Jack 
joins  in  respects  to  my  Sister  and  yourself. 

Pdng-ouzels  in  plenty  this  last  Septr. 

Y".  affect. 

Gil.  White. 

On  November  29th,  1773,  Mulso  writes  from  his 
Canon's  house  at  Winchester  : — 

I  am  booked  into  strict  residence.  .  .  .  You  who  receive 
Letters  and  keep  up  a  correspondence  with  the  philosophers 
of  Europe,  think  little  of  an  epistle  from  the  Vice-Bean  of 
Winchester;  but  my  new  title  and  my  old  friendship  are 
all  that  I  have  at  present  to  offer  from. 

Dear  Gil, 
Yours  sincerely  and  affectionately, 

J.  Mulso. 

To  the  Bev.  John  White. 

Ringmer,  December  9th,  1773. 

Dear  Brother, — Jack  and  I  arrived  here  on  Thursday, 
December  2nd,  and  found  that  your  letter  of  November 
11th  had  waited  for  us  more  than  a  fortnight.  We  were 
very  agreeably  surprised  to  find  Mrs.  Snooke  so  much  re- 
covered after  so  great  a  plunge.     She  is  cheerful  and  chatty, 

*  Pholas  dactylus  of  Conchology. — A.  N. 

t  That  is  to  say  the  first  octavo  edition. — A.  N. 


234  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF    SELBORNE  1773 

free  from  pain,  and  able  to  walk  to  all  parts  of  her  house 
without  a  stick ;  rides  out  in  her  chaise,  and  is  for  her  great 
age  an  extraordinary  woman.  Her  leg,  I  suppose,  is  much 
swelled ;  but  Mr.  Manning  does  not  seem  to  think  that  that 
circumstance  is  attended  with  any  danger. 

In  my  last,  as  I  wrote  on  a  sunny  day,  I  mentioned  that 
my  levelling  work  went  on  swimmingly;  but  there  came 
immediately  upon  me  a  glut  of  wet  for  many  weeks  that 
spoiled  my  metaphor,  and  drowned  and  floated  all  my 
works,  and  sadly  embarrassed  our  operations  in  the  clay, 
which  was  all  converted  to  mud  and  mire.  Before  we  could 
dig  we  were  obliged  to  lade.  However,  by  perseverance 
in  five  weeks  instead  of  twelve  days  I  finished  my  job, 
which  has  a  very  good  effect,  though  neither  the  turf  nor 
the  pavement  can  be  expected  to  lie  quite  so  smooth  and 
regular  as  if  all  had  been  moved  in  dry  weather.  The 
ground  came  out  to  nothing  on  an  hanging  level  on  the 
grass  plot  short  of  the  mulberry  tree,  and  in  the  broad 
walk  midway  between  the  farther  wicket  and  the  alcove 
on  a  dead  level.  I  apprehend  no  harm  from  the  borders; 
they  will  be  lowered.  We  went  20  inches  deep  at  the 
entrance  of  the  long  walk.  My  back  front  looks  higher 
and  better. 

I  am  sorry  you  have  improved  your  parlor  'til  it  smokes ; 
it  is  a  common  case,  but  you  must  exert  all  your  mechanic 
powers  to  remove  so  sad  a  nuisance.  My  horse  Miller  is 
very  lame,  and  could  not  come ;  as  Jack  was  trotting  him 
in  the  north  field  he  trod  in  an  old  track,  and  strained 
his  knee  in  a  wonderful  manner.  However,  his  old  friend 
Mr.  Etty  has  lent  Jack  his  poney,  that  carries  him  well. 
The  tortoise  went  under  the  ground  about  November  20th, 
came  out  again  for  one  day  December  2 :  and  now  lies  in  a 
swampy  border  in  mud  and  mire  ! 

My  letters  to  Mr.  Barrington  swell  very  fast;  he  has 
engaged  me  in  the  monography  of  the  swallow  genus.     I 


1773  SWALLOW  MONOGEAPHIES  235 

have  dispatched  the  house-martin,  and  my  letter  is  to  be 
read  before  the  Royal  Society.  I  wish  I  knew  a  little  more 
about  the  bank-martin.  Does  Mr.  Lever  know  anything 
about  the  bank-martin  that  can  be  depended  on?  Harry's 
little  folks,  all  but  Harry  Woods,  are  down  with  the 
whooping  cough.  While  Brother  Benjamin  and  family  were 
at  Newton,  Mr.  Pain  discovered  at  London  that  James 
White  had  got  a  cataract  or  film  on  one  of  his  eyes. 
Brother  Harry  is  going  to  have  a  West  Indian  boy  at 
£100  per  annum.  If  Mr.  H.  Woods*  could  be  prevailed  on 
to  take  an  apprentice  he  would  be  the  best  Master  I  know, 
as  he  is  always  at  home ;  but  Brother  Benjamin  asked  him 
the  question  with  respect  to  Edmund, f  but  he  has  never 
returned  any  answer.  Jack  is  taller  somewhat  than  Mr. 
Yalden,  and  grows  large  in  his  limbs.  Mrs.  Snooke  has 
never  heard  any  more  of  her  lawsuit.  Poor  Mr.  John 
Warnford,  of  C.  C.  C,  is,  I  see,  just  dead,  and  his  lecture 
disposed  of.  If  he  had  a  College  living,  as  I  take  for 
granted  he  had,  then  there  is  a  parsonage  at  Skinner's 
option.  I  fear  Mr.  W.  has  left  a  widow.  Easter,  I  find, 
comes  this  year  very  early,  and  will  cruelly  intersect  the 
spring,  as  I  must  attend  an  election  at  Oriel  in  Easter  week. 
Your  fauna,  I  fear,  begins  to  languish,  as  I  hear  nothing 
of  it  in  your  last.  I  should  be  sorry  to  find  that  you 
neglect  to  arrange  and  methodise  so  many  fine  materials. 
If  you  don't  make  haste  I  shall  publish  before  you.  All 
friends  join  in  proper  respects.  yrs    ff    f 

Gil.  White. 

Returning  on  December  15th,  IGth,  by  way  of 
Findon  and  Chilgrove,  where  his  connection  Mr. 
Woods  lived,  he   notes   in    his   Journal   the   exact 

*  A  china  merchant,  or  **  chinaman,"  in  the  Poultry, 
t  Son  of  Benjamin  White. 


236  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1773 

depth  of  the  latter's  well,  a  circumstance  which 
seems  always  to  have  attracted  his  attention.  On 
December  26th,  1773,  Mulso  writes  from  Winchester 
regretting  the  failure  of  his  efforts  to  find  his  friend 
a  locum  tenens  of  his  Faringdon  curacy.  He  con- 
tinues— 

"  Mr.  Hinton  joined  us  in  abusing  you  and  Mr.  Etty,  for 
not  making  your  parish  make  a  road  to  you,  which  he 
averred  could  be  done  for  very  little.  Think  only  of  my 
knowing  no  time  of  the  year  for  getting  at  you  without  a 
guide  ;  and  seldom  with  one.  You  are  the  *  toto  divisos  orbe 
Britannos.'  Cannot  you  threaten  to  vote  against  Sir  Simeon 
if  he  will  not  urge  the  Thing  and  help  it  ?  What  other  use 
is  there  now  in  general  elections  ?  Have  we  not  here  a 
Duke  for  our  Mayor,  and  Baronets  and  Knights  for  our 
humble  servants,  because  the  Day  approaches?  If  you 
lose  this  opportunity,  I  shall  think  that  you  love  your 
Rosamond's  Bower,  because  the  access  is  inscrutable." 


CHAPTER  XL 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Selborne,  Jan.  12,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — As  I  made  no  manner  of  doubt  but  that 
your  many  kind  and  repeated  invitations  were  very  sincere, 
you  will,  I  fear,  feel  a  little  disappointed  when  you  come  to 
find  the  purport  of  this  letter.  But  I  desire  you  would  hear 
what  I  have  to  say  before  you  condemn  me. 

I  wrote  to  Mr.  Roman  *  signifying  a  desire  of  being  set 
at  liberty  from  his  cure,  and  fixing  a  day.  He  returned  me 
a  very  handsome  friendly  answer,  in  which  he  wished  me 
still  to  continue;  and  as  he  understood  a  desire  to  visit 
distant  friends  made  me  uneasy  under  restraint,  he  was 
ready  at  once  to  advance  my  salary  to  £50  per  annum, f 
hoping  that  sum  would  enable  me  to  procure  assistance 
from  Oxon.  or  elsewhere,  whenever  I  wanted  to  take  a  long 
journey. 

This  proposal  concurring,  as  you  know,  with  my  constant 
wish  of  reserving  an  employ  to  return  to,  has  at  present 
put  a  stop  to  my  N.  expedition;  and  has  put  me  upon 
trying  every  expedient  for  procuring  a  substitute  by  writing 
to  J.  Mulso,  brother  H.,  Skinner,  &c.,  &c.  What  I  could 
wish  is,  to  be  at  liberty  after  Easter  to  visit  you  from  Oxon. 
For  I  must   not   pretend   so   totally  to   disregard   College 

*  Rector  of  Faringdon,  whose  curate  Gilbert  White  was. 
t  It  was  £40. 

237 


238  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1774 

concerns  as  purposely,  and  in  good  health,  to  decline  appear- 
ing at  an  election. 

For  my  own  feelings  I  often  wish  myself  with  you:  and 
make  many  comparisons  between  this  and  the  last  winter, 
not  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  present.  Last  winter 
I  look  back  upon  as  one  of  the  most  pleasant  of  my  life, 
when  I  had  my  friends  about  me  in  a  family  way;  and 
enjoyed  the  conversation  of  relations  from  whom  I  had 
been  parted  so  long.  When  I  do  come  to  see  you,  you  may 
depend  on  it  I  should  wish  to  make  you  a  good  long  visit : 
besides  the  stay  that  I  must  make  in  Kutland. 

As  to  Jack  I  should  wish  to  have  him  stay  as  long  as 
ever  you  and  his  mother  can  spare  him.  He  does  not 
altogether  lose  his  time;  because  he  construes  and  trans- 
lates, or  looks  over  maps,  or  writes  letters  every  day. 
He  has  read  all  the  8  volumes  of  'Spectators'  through 
with  that  relish  that  showed  he  understood  them:  and 
is  much  pleased  with  Derham's  *  Physico  -  theoL'  and  is 
now  embarked  in  Brydone's  and  Sir  W.  Hamilton's  Letters, 
in  which  I  make  him  refer  all  the  way  to  maps.  Jack 
and  I  want  to  go  to  Fyfield  soon;  and  therefore  wish  to 
know  from  my  sister  whether  he  has  had  the  whooping 
cough,  which  all  Harry's  boys  labour  under  at  present. 

My  monography  on  the  house-martin  is  finished,  and  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Barrington,  who  is  so  much  prejudiced 
in  its  favour  that  he  proposes  soon  to  have  it  read  before 
the  Koyal  Society.  Another  on  the  house-swallow  is  near 
compleated;  from  which  I  propose  to  proceed  to  the  rest 
of  the  British  Hirundines.  Can  Lever  send  me  any  authen- 
tic remarks?  Pray  tell  me  over  again  the  story  of  the 
swallow  building  on  the  dead  owl's  wings  and  on  the  conch, 
4&C.  I  think  I  could  make  a  good  use  of  it.*  You  have 
done  very  well,  I  think,  with  Mrs.  Wodin.     Mr.  Budd  was 

*  Vide  •  The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter  XVIII.  to  Barrington. 


1774  A  FLOOD   AT   SELBOENE  239 

with  me  this  day  to  tell  me  that  from  this  day  forward 
he  relinquished  all  business  to  Mr.  Webb. 

The  barometer  is  very  irregular  of  late:  we  have  now 
this  day  hard  frost  with  the  mercury  at  29-2,  and  our  last 
frost  (which  lasted  from  the  30th  of  December  'til  January 
5th  inclusive)  began  with  the  barometer  at  29  4  All  last 
Saturday  afternoon  and  night,  and  all  Sunday  there  was 
a  most  extraordinary  rain  from  the  N.,  which  perhaps 
was  snow  northward.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yalden  were  here, 
and  stayed  all  Saturday  night.  On  Sunday  there  was  such 
a  flood  down  at  the  pond,  that  Thomas  and  I  were  over  the 
calves  of  our  legs  before  we  got  to  Peter  Wells's;  where 
we  were  told  that  if  we  proceeded  any  further  our  horses 
would  swim.  So  we  returned  back :  and  the  rain  followed 
on  so  the  whole  day,  that  I  omitted  going  to  my  church 
at  all  the  first  time  for  weather  since  I  have  undertaken 
Faringdon  cure.  People  tell  me  they  have  known  as  big 
a  flood,  but  never  one  that  lasted  so  long.  On  Sunday 
evening  it  snowed,  and  then  froze  hard.  Pray  tell  me 
a  little  about  your  frosts  and  weather :  what  birds  do  you 
see?  Wild  geese,  I  suppose:  have  you  any  wagtails  in 
winter?  and  what  other  small  birds?  You  will  enliven, 
I  hope,  your  fauna  with  some  dissertations  and  an  agree- 
able Journal;  and  some  comparisons  between  the  climates, 
&c.,  of  Andalusia  and  Great  Britain.  Poor  old  Miller  is 
very  lame  still.     Jack  joins  in  best  respects. 

Y"  aff.. 
Pray  write  soon.  Gil.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White,  ^  ,,  ^,    ^   ^^^, 

Selborne,  Feb.  4, 1774. 

Dear  Brother, — By  your  writing  so  very  quick  your  last 
letter  arrived  much  sooner  than  I  could  have  expected. 
Since  I  wrote  to  you  I  have  talked  with  Mr.  Kobinson  the 
Curate  of  Colmer,  and  he  informs  me  that  he  has  not  the 


240  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1774 

least  doubt  but  that  at  the  end  of  the  summer  he  shall  be 
able  to  take  my  cure  off  my  hands  for  some  considerable 
time  by  the  following  means.  The  owner  of  Colmer  living,  a 
young  man  in  the  N :  is,  it  seems,  to  take  orders  this  summer, 
and  to  supply  his  own  church.  This  event  will  remove 
Eobinson  to  East  Tisted,  from  whence  he  can  with  ease 
undertake  the  full  duty  of  Faringdon,  and  will  be  glad  of 
the  emolument,  having  a  large  family.  You  and  my  sister 
will  therefore  excuse  me  'til  that  season,  'til  October  I  hope, 
when  I  shall,  God  willing,  wait  on  you  with  great  pleasure. 

Instead  of  your  making  excuses  to  me,  I  ought  to  make 
many  to  you  for  detaining  your  son  so  long :  but,  if  you  can 
undergo  so  much  self-denyal,  I  should  wish  you  could  now 
spare  him  'til  autumn  when  we  will  come  down  together. 
He  is  now  of  real  service  to  me,  and  a  companion  in  my 
solitude.  We  shall  ride  down  to  Fyfield  soon ;  and  in  March 
I  shall  carry  him  to  London.  It  would  be  cheaper  as  well  as 
pleasanter  for  me  to  travel  this  summer  than  to  stay  at 
home ;  because  I  seem  to  be  in  danger  of  building.  But  if 
I  do  not  stay  at  this  place  in  the  summer,  when  can  I  think 
to  enjoy  it  ?  and  was  I  at  liberty  now,  Easter  would  cruelly 
intersect  my  time,  and  spoil  all. 

Lever  is  a  generous  man,  and  is  of  vast  service  to  you  by 
lending  you  all  his  books :  I  hope  Mr.  P[ennant]  will  bethink 
himself,  and  wipe  off  the  imputation  of  selfishness  that  he 
lies  under.  Mr.  Budd  has  just  given  his  fine  harpsichord  to 
brother  Harry.    Your  weather  and  ours  accord  very  much. 

A  neighbour  carries  this  to  London.  So  I  am  in  some 
haste. 

Jack  joins  &c.  Y*"  affect.  Bro. 

Gil.  White. 

Berriman  has  paid  Th.  Corston  the  money  ordered.  I  got 
a  bond-paper ;  but  not  caring  to  go  to  any  attorney,  drew  up 
as  full  a  receipt  on  it  as  I  could  couch  in  words.     The  man 


1774  A   FAMILY  KESIDENCE  241 

seemed  staggered  at  first  when  he  saw  he  must  sign  stamp- 
paper  :  but  complying  at  last  he  took  the  money,  and  getting 
without  the  door  cursed  us  all  in  a  most  devout  and  liberal 
manner :  and  so  ended  the  negotiation.  B.  was  so  provoked 
at  this  usage,  that  he  thinks  that  he  should  have  thrashed 
him,  had  he  been  well  and  able.     Let  me  hear  soon. 

On  February  15th,  1774,  Mulso  wrote  again  re- 
gretting that  his  eflforts  to  find  his  friend  a  tem- 
porary substitute  had  failed.     He  continues  : — 

*  I  am  sorry  that  we  shall  not  meet  in  London  or  indeed 
elsewhere  for  a  good  while :  for  you  are  called  to  London,  and 
Oxford.  .  .  .  Pray,  when  you  build,  let  it  be  a  drawing-room 
upstairs,  that  you  may  look  on  the  Hanger ;  let  it  be  higher 
than  the  present,  and  let  it  be  sashed.  *  Monstrous !  why 
this  will  be  a  great  expence ! '  True,  therefore  take  two  years 
instead  of  one  to  do  it  in.  As  you  want  to  decoy  your 
family  after  you  to  make  Selbourne  a  place  of  residence,  as 
well  as  to  enjoy  it  during  your  own  life,  e'en  do  it  in  a 
tempting  way.  Your  brothers  will  be  rich  men :  and  you 
are  yourself  the  richest  man  that  I  know,  for  you  are  the 
only  man  of  my  acquaintance  that  does  not  want  money. 
Stay,  I  believe  I  will  except  my  uncle  the  Bishop — But  I  am 
not  so  sure  of  him  as  I  am  of  you. 

"May  your  Eirundines*  as  I  doubt  not,  bring  in  the 
spring  and  summer  of  your  fame!  I  am  glad  you  have 
entrusted  yourself  to  the  Public  that  you  reap  your  due 
honours.  Jack's  'Fauna'  should  follow  close.  ...  I  still 
rave  at  your  roads,  which  have  defeated  two  or  three  schemes 
I  had  to  see  you.  Airson  joined  me  the  other  day,  and  vows 
he  never  went  to  Selborne  in  his  life,  but  he  lost  his  way." 

*  The  first  of  Gilbert  "White's  papers  on  this  subject  was  read  before  the 
Royal  Society  in  February,  and  the  second  in  March  of  this  year  (1774). 
They  were  subsequently  printed  in  'Philosophical  Transactions,'  vol.  Ixix. 
VOL.  I. — R 


242  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1774 

From  the  Naturalist's  Journal — 

"  March  5,  1774.  Received  as  a  present  from  Mr.  Hinton 
(to  whom  it  was  sent  from  Exeter  with  many  more)  one  of 
Mr.  William  Luccombe's  new  variety  of  oaks.  .  .  ." 

In  another  hand  is  written — 

"  But  inquire  of  your  brother  of  Thames  Street  about  it." 

To  the  Bev.  John  White. 

Faringdon,  March  6,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — Mr.  Webb,  as  you  say,  is,  I  believe,  a  good 
natured  man,  and  in  good  business.  I  have  made  some 
enquiries  round  about  by  means  of  Mr.  Yalden;*  but  the 
answer  was,  that  at  present  he  did  not  think  it  convenient 
to  take  an  apprentice.  So  it  is  needless  to  say  anything 
farther  on  that  subject. 

What  is  become  of  your  friend  General  Cornwallis  ?  I 
have  never  seen  any  mention  of  his  arrival. 

You  never  let  me  know  whereabout  your  expences  came 
for  the  fitting  up  of  your  house.  I  talk  of  building  a 
parlor;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  point  I  have  fears  about 
the  trouble;  besides  green  walls  will  not  be  habitable  till 
the  second  year.  In  what  language  did  you  write  to 
Linnaeus?  and  in  what  did  he  answer  you? 

The  late  decree  in  the  house  of  Lords  concerning  literary 
property  will  make  booksellers  shy  of  publishing  new 
editions,  as  it  renders  such  property  very  precarious.  There 
is  in  London  a  strange  spirit  of  decrying  Linnaeus,  which 
seems  to  obtain  more  and  more;  I  think,  without  any  reason. 
Just  as  infidels  rail  at  the  S.S.,  though  at  the  same  time 
their  minds  are  much  enlightened  by  them.  Mr.  Twiss  had 
written  me  word  that  he  would  come  and  see  me  in  the 

•  This  little  incident  illustrates  the  extreme  caution  which  Gilbert  White 
habitually  used.  Mr.  Webb,  with  whom  he  was  well  acquainted,  lived  at 
Alton.     Mr.  Yalden  was  his  neighbour  at  Newton  Valence  vicarage. 


1774  A  NATUKALISTS'  TKEATY  243 

winter.  At  Xmas  I  invited  him  again;  but  he  was  gone 
into  Staffordshire  on  family  business,  and  when  he  returned 
had  no  more  time  to  spare. 

By  the  death  of  Mr.  John  Warnford,  Skinner  is  put  in 
the  possession  of  the  living  of  Bassingham  in  the  county 
of  Lincoln,  on  the  Witham,  midway  between  Newark  and 
Lincoln.  His  living  was  set  in  1663  at  8d.  per  acre ;  and  so 
it  continues ;  was  it  let  only  at  Is.  Qd.  it  would  be  a  noble 
parsonage,  now  it  rents  about  200  guineas.  Skinner  is  to 
stay  in  college  about  five  weeks  longer.  If  you  want  to 
consult  him  about  your  fauna  why  don't  you  write  to  him  ? 
Direct  for  Skinner,  after  five  weeks,  at  Bassingham  near 
Newark. 

Jack  by  no  means  wants  a  coat  and  waistcoat  yet;  he 
shall  have  a  pair  of  fustian  breeches.  Brother  Thomas 
can  hear  of  no  master  as  yet,  but  will  continue  to  enquire. 
Prices  are  so  enormous,  that  a  common  seedsman  asked  him 
the  astonishing  deposit  of  £300 !  to  enable  a  young  man 
to  sell  a  pennyworth  of  radish  seed ! 

I  could  get  no  Mus*  as  nobody  moved  a  rick. 

Pray  write  very  soon. 

Yours  affectionately, 

Gil.  White. 

Friends  join  in  respects. 

If  you  have  anything  for  Linn,  send  it  up  soon,  because 
the  ship  is  likely  to  sail  shortly.  If  you  have  any  desiderata 
with  respect  to  Spain,  now  is  your  time,  for  Mr.  Barrington 
tells  me  this  morning  that  he  has  just  compleated  a  nat. 
treaty  with  the  King  of  Spain,  who  is  to  send  all  the 
curiosities  of  S.  America,  and  the  RS.  are  to  send  him  all 
the  nat.  productions  of  N.  America. 

I  remember  you  wished  to  know  how  far  the  Hirundo 

*  The  harvest  mouse  {Mus  messoriics),  which  he  was  the  first  to  discover 
and  describe  in  England.  Vide  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter 
XIL  to  Pennant. 


244  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1774 

melba  extended  up  into  Spain,  and  whether  the  Hirundo 
rupestris  was  seen  in  summer  in  the  internal  parts. 

Mr.  B.  shewed  me  and  Jack  the  curiosities  of  the  R.S. ; 
there  was  a  stuffer  packing  and  preparing  the  productions  of 
N.  America  for  the  use  of  the  King  of  Spain.  « 

Pray  write  soon. 

During  March,  1774,  Gilbert  White  visited  his 
brothers  in  London.     On  his  return  he  wrote — 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Selborne,  March  29,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — The  long-contested  drawings  are  lodged  in 
Thames-street  in  order  to  be  sent  down  to  you.  I  wish  they 
had  been  better  executed,  and  the  owner*  had  behaved  more 
like  a  Gentleman  on  the  occasion.  He  showed  me  a  letter, 
which  he  intended  to  send  you:  and  as  Benjamin  and  he 
have  literary  connections,  I  hope  you  will  forget,  and  for- 
give. They  always  quarrel  and  squabble  by  letter,  but 
accord  well  when  they  meet. 

You  do  well  to  send  Linn,  your  most  curious  specimens : 
and  not  only  your  most  curious  ones,  but  also  such  common 
ones  as  by  the  circumstances  of  his  country  he  seems  to  be 
unacquainted  with.  He  will,  I  trust,  act  with  candor;  and 
give  you  the  best  information  he  can  concerning  your  non- 
descripts. No  doubt  when  he  sees  the  PrcUincola  he  will, 
remove  it  from  the  Hirundines.f 

As  to  my  letters  they  lie  in  my  cupboard  very  snug.     If 

*  Pennant.  The  remark  is  severe,  but  Gilbert  White's  letter  of  1st  August, 
1770,  shows  that  when  he  first  sent  some  specimens  from  Gibraltar  to  Pennant, 
he  had  distinctly  intimated  that  he  should  expect  to  see  the  drawings,  if 
Pennant  had  any  made  by  his  artist. 

t  The  copy  of  the  twelfth  edition  of  the  '  Systema  Naturte,'  annotated 
by  Linnaeus  himself,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Linnean  Society  oi 
London,  shows  that  he  would  have  done  so  had  he  brought  out  another 
edition.  He  had  also  marked  his  account  of  the  species  **J.  White"  by  way 
of  memorandum. — A.  N. 


1774  KEFUSES   CROMHALL  RECTORY  245 

you  will  correct  them,  and  assist  in  the  arrangement  of  my 
Journal,  I  will  publish.  I  have  finished  the  monography  of 
all  the  Hirundines  except  the  swift. 

Cromall*  is  so  dismally  circumstanced  that  I  think  there 
can  be  no  doubt  which  way  I  had  best  act.  The  late  in- 
cumbent insolvent,  and  too  negligent  to  leave  any  papers  of 
information  behind  him ;  no  barn ;  I  believe  no  stable ;  a 
wretched  house  ;  and  all  the  parish  offices  for  years  past  in 
the  hands  of  an  attorney,  and  a  gentleman's  steward ;  and  to 
compleat  all,  the  manor-farm  belonging  to  D"*  Bosworth*s 
persecuting  peer ! !  Mr.  Pen  told  a  man  a  little  before  he 
dyed  that  he  had  made  one  year  £160  of  his  living:  but 
that  in  general  it  produced  only  £150.  D'  Bosworth  says  it 
may  be  raised  to  £200. 

Write  to  Mr.  Barrington  under  cover  to  the  Bishop  of 
Llandaff  in  London. 

I  made  some  enquiries  concerning  a  place  for  Jack  of 
Mr.  Roman.  He  says  the  difficulties  about  settling  a  young 
man  in  London  are  very  great ;  but  recommends  an  habber- 
dasher,  if  a  proper  master  could  be  found.  The  ribbon- 
merchant  was  at  Coventry  all  the  while  I  was  in  town. 
Brother  Thomas  knows  a  young  man  in  the  habberdashery 
way,  and  will  enquire.  He  wishes  your  proposal  at  Alton 
could  have  taken  effect. 

As  usual  I  had  a  rash  first  in  town,  and  then  a  cold  and 
cough;  neither  did  Jack  escape  without  some  little  cough. 
I  am  feverish  and  faint  with  my  cold,  and  must  not  venture 
to  Oxon.  except  I  mend. 

Skinner  came  to  town  in  his  way  to  Bassingham,  and 
spent  half  a  day  in  Thames-street.  Brother  Thomas  admired 
the  clearness  of  his  head.  A  Roman-catholic  gentleman 
makes  pretentions  to  his  living:  but  his  claims  are  looked 
on  as  futile. 

*  The  Rectory  of  Cromhall,  Gloucestershire,  in  the  gift  of  Oriel  College. 


246  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1774 

I  have  not  been  at  Hawkley  yet;  but  the  falling  of  the 
fragments  from  the  cliff  is  the  least  part  of  the  story :  for  a 
slipping  below  has  disordered,  and  damaged  near  100  acres 
of  land,  and  ruined  two  houses !  The  ground  is  rumpled, 
and  forced  up  as  it  were  into  waves. 

I  did  not  suppose  your  repairs  would  inform  me  about 
new  building.  I  only  wished  to  know  what  expence  would 
put  a  good  firm  shell  in  comfortable  condition.  The  vexation 
of  workmen,  I  fear,  is  great. 

I  bought  in  town  D"^  Campbell's  'Political  Survey  of 
Great  Britain,'*  a  work  that  has  employed  his  thoughts 
more  than  20  years :  2  vol.  4to,  £2  2s.  Od.  As  far  as  I  have 
seen  I  think  his  stile  is  not  so  good  as  in  his  *  Present  State 
of  Europe.'  The  new  work  seems  to  comprize  a  variety  of 
knowledge. 

Some  time  ago  I  put  Hume's  *  History  of  England'  into 
Jack's  hands.  The  young  man  is  much  taken  with  the 
work,  and  reads  it  with  great  earnestness,  and  in  preference 
to  the  'Spectators'  and  'Tatlers':  and  makes  pertinent 
remarks. 

With  respects  to  my  sister  we  remain 

¥«•  afect. 

Gil.  White. 

I  found  by  a  Gentleman  from  your  parts  that  you  had 
none  of  the  floods  to  the  JST.W. 

The  following  letter  from  John  White,  junr. — a 
decidedly  good  one  for  a  boy  aged  fifteen — fully  1 
describes  the  landslip  at  Hawkley  Hanger,  which  his 
uncle  remarked  upon  in  an  undated  letter  (and  there- 
fore not  actually  written)  to  Pennant : — 

*  The  last  and  most  elaborate  work  of  John  Campbell,  ll.d.  (1708-1775), 
a  miscellaneous  author. 


1774  LANDSLIP  AT  HAWKLEY  247 

To  Samuel  Barker.  April  6  1774 

Dear  Cousin, — At  the  request  of  my  uncle  I  intend  doing 
myself  the  pleasure  of  giving  you  some  account  of  an  extra- 
ordinary event  which  lately  happened  in  the  parish  of 
Hawkley.  During  the  vast  rains  a  large  fragment  of  the 
Hanger  (late  my  grandfather's)  *  slipped  away  for  near  two 
hundred  yards  in  length,  and  fell  down  the  steep  to  the 
depth  of  40  feet,  carrying  with  it  the  coppice-wood,  hedge, 
and  gate  between  the  two  fields,  &c.  The  sinking  of  this 
gate  is  very  strange,  as  it  stands  at  present  as  upright  as 
it  used  to  do  and  is  as  easy  to  be  opened  and  shut. 

The  next  thing  observable  is  a  little  hop-garden  and  pond, 
in  the  former  of  which  there  are  two  or  three  places  that 
are  sunk  four  or  five  feet :  besides  many  other  parts  of  the 
garden  are  very  full  of  large  cracks  and  openings.  The  bed 
of  the  pond  is  also  very  much  sunk  and  the  place  from 
whence  the  waste  water  used  to  run  is  now  the  highest 
part. 

A  lane  which  went  down  one  side  of  this  hill  is  sunk 
eight  or  ten  feet,  and  very  much  pushed  forward  so  as  to  be 
rendered  impassable. 

There  is  situated  in  the  same  piece  of  ground  with  the 
pond  (which  is  meadow -land)  a  small  cottage,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  were  greatly  alarmed  on  the  night  in  which  this 
happened,  by  a  gradual  opening  of  their  floor,  till  at  last 
they  perceived  that  part  of  the  cottage  nearest  the  hills 
began  to  sever  with  very  loud  noises.  The  upper  part 
of  the  cottage  is  since  entirely  fallen  down. 

A  neighbouring  farm-house  is  also  so  much  sunk  and 
so  full  of  large  cracks  as  to  be  rendered  not  habitable. 

There  is  in  one  field  that  was  wheat  last  year  pretty 
well  an  acre  so  much  sunk,  that  it  is  impossible  to  be 
ploughed.     All  the  corn  land  which  was  affected  by  this 

♦  John  White.  J.  p. 


248  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1774 

event  is  full  of  large  chasms  and  cracks,  some  two  feet  wide : 
the  meadow  land  has  very  few  of  these  cracks  in  it,  but 
seems  to  be  pushed  forward ;  and  is  filled  with  large  swellings 
of  the  turf  very  much  resembling  waves:  in  some  places 
where  the  ground  met  with  any  thing  that  resisted,  it  rose 
up  many  feet  above  its  former  surface. 

In  one  place  four  or  five  trees  are  driven  all  together  in  a 
huddle.     One  tree  is  entirely  beat  down. 

It  is  supposed  eighty  or  an  hundred  acres  of  ground  are 
damaged  by  this  accident. 

There  has  been  a  great  concourse  of  people  to  see  this 
Event.  It  is  computed  that  a  Sunday  or  two  after  it 
happened  there  were  pretty  near  a  thousand  from  different 
parts  of  the  country.  One  of  the  persons  to  whom  the  cottage 
belonged  has  lately  been  about  with  a  petition  in  order  to 
attempt  to  rebuild  it.  Hoping  that  this  acQount  of  mine 
will  give  you  some  idea  of  this  wonderful  accident;  with 
duty  to  my  uncle  and  aunt  and  love  to  my  cousins,  I  remain 

Your  affectionate  cousin, 

John  White. 

To  the  same  from  Gilbert  White  (on  the  same  sheet). 

April  6th,  1774. 

Dear  Sam. — Molly  White*  has  left  school,  and  is  now, 
I  believe,  in  London;  towards  the  end  of  this  month  her 
father  brings  her  down  to  this  place,  intending  to  put  her 
for  a  while  under  the  care  of  Mrs.  Etty.  Poor  farmer 
Berriman  has  been  for  some  weeks  in  St.  Bartholomew's 
hospital  for  a  terrible  disorder,  which  he  concluded  to  be 
a  stone  in  his  bladder;  but  on   Monday  last  he  was  re- 

*  Mary,  the  only  daughter  of  Thomas  White,  now  15  years  of  age.  She 
used  often  to  stay  at  Selborne,  and  was  the  ' '  little  girl "  mentioned  in 
*The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  Letter  LIX.  to  Barriugton,  as  re- 
marking that  the  rooks  when  flying  round  and  cawing  at  dusk  were 
"saying  their  prayers,"  as  her  brother  Thomas  notes  in  his  copy  of  his 
uncle's  book. 


1774  LETTEE   TO   SAMUEL   BARKER  249 

turned  as  incurable :  the  surgeons  suppose  his  case  to  be  an 
ulcer  in  his  bladder.  Boxal  the  blacksmith  is  dead,  and 
his  widow  is  removed  to  live  with  one  of  his  daughters. 
His  house  and  shop  sold  for  a  great  price.  These  last 
sentences  are  addressed  to  your  mamma.  Nanny  Woods 
continues  remarkably  stout ;  but  her  poor  father  is  in  a 
very  poor  state  of  health,  overwhelmed  with  business,  and 
neither  able  to  go  on,  nor  willing  to  relinquish.  Jack 
and  I  are  newly  returned  from  London,  where  I  caught 
a  great  cold.  Tell  your  papa  and  mamma  that  I  hope  they 
will  please  to  come  and  see  me  this  summer ;  and  will  bring 
you,  and  as  many  of  your  sisters  as  is  convenient.  Among 
other  things  you  will  be  glad  to  see  the  strange  sight 
described  above.  I  have  been  prevented  as  yet  by  indis- 
position from  seeing  it  myself.  Captain  Cook  and  Mr. 
Forster,  it  is  expected,  will  be  at  the  Cape  next  November 
and  home  about  next  March.  The  S.  and  W.  of  England 
have  suffered  lately  in  a  wonderful  manner  by  floods;  but 
I  found  by  a  gentleman  who  arrived  in  town  from  N.  Wales 
in  the  midst  of  all  those  bad  doings,  that  nothing  extra- 
ordinary had  happened  in  that  way  on  the  N.W.  side  of  the 
Kingdom ;  and  so  I  find  by  my  brother  John's  letters.  The 
landsprings,  or  lavants,  are  higher  on  the  Hants  and  Wilts 
downs  than  ever  they  were  known  in  the  memory  of  man; 
and  so  they  are  at  Faringdon.  your  affectionate  Uncle, 
Pray  write  soon.  Gil.  White. 

To  the  Bev.  John  White.        Selborne,  April  29th,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — ^After  thanking  you  for  your  letter  of  the 
12th,  I  should  inform  you  first  (as  it  is  matter  of  Business) 
that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  pay  Mr.  Willis,*  because 

*  Of  Holiburn  School,  near  Alton,  to  which  John  White,  junr.,  had  been 
sent  in  1770,  or  earlier.  He  was,  however,  at  present  under  the  tuition  of 
his  uncle,  to  whom  he  became  a  useful  amanuensis.  A  good  deal  of  the  MS. 
from  which  the  *  Selborne '  was  printed  is  in  his  handwriting. 


250  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1774 

I  laid  out  much  more  in  town  than  I  expected,  and  am  bare 
of  cash. 

Out  of  all  my  journals  I  think  I  might  collect  matter 
enough,  and  such  a  series  of  incidents  as  might  pretty  well 
comprehend  the  Natural  History  of  this  district,  especially 
as  to  the  ornithological  part;  and  I  have  moreover  half  a 
century  of  letters  on  the  same  subject,  most  of  them  very 
long ;  all  which  together  (were  they  thought  worthy  to  be 
seen)  might  make  up  a  moderate  volume.  To  these  might 
be  added  some  circumstances  of  the  country,  its  most  curious 
plants,  its  few  antiquities ;  all  which  together  might  soon  be 
moulded  into  a  work,  had  I  resolution  and  spirits  enough 
to  set  about  it. 

As  to  your  own  work,  your  journal  incidents  will  be  the 
most  entertaining  part  of  it.  Skinner  was  much  pleased 
with  them.  You  should  moreover,  I  think,  have  some 
letters  or  dissertations  for  the  unsystematic  part  of  your 
readers,  who  will  not  so  well  relish  a  Eauna  alone.  A 
comparative  account  of  the  climates  (where  they  will  admit) 
would,  I  think,  be  very  engaging.  You  have  by  you  an 
abundance  of  your  own  letters. 

I  should  have  told  you  before,  that  I  have  finished  my 
monography  on  the  British  Hirundines.  If  you  can  procure 
yourself  a  frank,  and  will  send  it  to  me,  Jack  shall  tran- 
scribe you  one  sheet,  that  you  may  see  how  I  have  acquitted 
myself,  and  whether  you  approve  of  the  manner. 

My  cold  and  feverish  complaint  hung  so  about  me  at 
Easter  that  I  did  not  go  at  all  to  the  election,  expecting 
every  day  to  be  laid  up;  but  I  wrote  to  the  Provost,  and 
sent  a  renunciation  of  the  living  of  Cromall,  as  I  have  done 
since  of  the  living  of  Swainswick  near  Bath,  which  Pen 
dyed  possessed  of. 

Brother  Thomas  and  Molly  will  be  here,  I  think,  next 
week  in  order  that  Molly  may  be  settled  for  a  while  under 
the  care  of  Mrs.  Etty. 


1774  EDUCATES  HIS  NEPHEW  251 

As  to  building  I  have  not  yet  absolutely  determined 
about  it ;  though  next  week  will  be  the  last  week  of  asking ; 
because  the  bark  of  oaks  (as  I  must  cut  some  timber)  will 
not  strip  or  run  after  that  time.  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  about 
the  house-martins,  as  they  do  not  appear  yet :  the  swallows 
and  bank-martins  were  early :  a  pair  of  swifts  came  to  the 
church  yesterday. 

Mr.  Lever,  I  find,  continues  wonderfully  generous,  and 
helpful  by  means  of  his  books :  if  it  was  not  for  the 
General  [Cornwallis]  you  should,  I  think,  dedicate  your 
work  to  him.  In  my  monography  I  have  made  honourable 
mention  of  his  museum.  Pray  where  did  he  get  his  little 
mouse  ?  I  mean  by  that  to  enquire  whether  it  is  common 
in  Lancashire.  For  I  concluded,  as  it  had  escaped  Ray,  that 
it  did  not  extend  far  northward. 

When  Brother  Thomas  comes  I  will  enquire  what  farther 
information  he  has  procured  with  regard  to  a  Master  for 
Jack.  It  is  a  very  difficult  matter,  it  seems,  to  find  a  place 
where  all  things  concur  to  our  wishes.  Jack  grows  stout 
and  tall,  but  not  upright.  He  says  he  is  5  feet  six  inches 
and  a  half  without  his  shoes.  We  began  to  read  Horace's 
Odes  together :  but  found  many  of  them  so  indecent  for  a 
young  man,  that  we  have  taken  to  the  Epistles,  which  are 
a  fine  body  of  ethics,  and  very  entertaining,  and  sensible. 
Jack  construes  well;  but  makes  slips  still  with  regard  to 
quantity.  He  is  become  a  very  good  transcriber.  I  believe 
such  employ  now  and  then  is  not  bad  for  a  young  man,  since 
it  teaches  him  the  use  and  power  of  stopping ;  a  thing  much 
neglected.     Jack  has  read  all  the  Georgics  through. 

I  wish  I  could  read  Reaumur  and  De  Geer. 

The  spring  is  forward,  and  we  have  had  some  lovely 
weather;  but  winter  is  returned  to-day.  I  want  to  know 
what  Linn,  will  say  to  the  supposed  Junco  and  the  Turdus. 

My  wall-trees  promise  much  fruit.  We  join  in  respects 
to  my  sister.     Pray  write  soon.         y  afiect.  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 


252  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1774 

From  the  Naturalist's  Journal — 

"  May  7th.  In  some  former  years,  I  see,  house-martins  have 
not  appeared  'til  the  beginning  of  May:  the  case  was  the 
same  this  year:  and  yet  they  afterwards  abounded.  These 
long  delays  are  more  in  favour  of  migration  than  of  a  torpid 
state. 

"  May  24th.  Ophrys  nidus  avis,  Brother  Thomas.  This 
curious  plant  was  found  in  bloom  in  the  long  Lythe  among 
the  dead  leaves  under  the  thickest  beeches,  and  also  among 
some  bushes  at  Dorton." 

The  following  letter  is  from  Sampson  Newbery, 
Fellow  of  Exeter,  who  was  apparently  the  "  observ- 
ing Devonshire  gentleman "  mentioned  in  Letter 
XXXI.  to  Pennant,  as  giving  Gilbert  White  infor- 
mation about  the  breeding  and  migration  of  ring- 
ousels  in  that  county.  His  father,  the  Eev.  Sampson 
Newbery,  was  of  Zele,  in  South  Tawton,  Devonshire. 

From  S.  Newlery.  Exeter  College,  14th  June,  1774. 

Dear  Sir, — Both  your  letters  I  have  been  favoured  with ; 
one  while  I  was  with  my  father  in  Devonshire ;  the  other 
I  found  on  my  table  at  my  return  to  college  last  Sunday. 
.  .  .  Whether  my  engagements  here  will  permit  me  to  make 
an  excursion  into  Hants  this  summer,  I  can't  yet  easily  de- 
termine: of  this  you  may  be  assured;  that  whenever  an 
opportunity  presents  itself,  an  inclination  shall  not  be  want- 
ing on  my  part. 

My  acquaintance  with  birds  and  their  history  is  so  slender, 
that  I  fear  all  the  information  I  can  furnish  on  that  subject 
will  afford  you  but  small  satisfation.  Such  answers  to 
your  enquiries  as  my  observation  will  supply  I  shall  very 
readily  communicate. 


1774  BIKDS   OF  DEVONSHIRE  253 

The  ring-ousels,  which  breed  about  the  sides  of  small 
brooks  upon  Dartmoor,  and  continue  there  till  the  end  of 
September  or  beginning  of  October  appeared  there  this 
spring  before  the  end  of  March :  If  they  are  so  early  every 
year  (and  to  the  best  of  my  Remembrance  they  used  to  be 
so  early)  may  we  not  suppose  that  these  that  visit  you  in 
spring  and  autumn  are  only  the  scattered  ones  that  accident 
has  separated  from  their  companions  ?  or  perhaps  part  of 
a  second  flight  in  their  way  to  or  return  from  the  more 
northern  part  of  our  island.  Whence  they  come  when  they 
visit  us  in  the  spring,  I  confess  myself  ignorant :  but  that 
they  cross  the  British  Channel  seems  to  me  more  probable, 
than  that  they  should  leave  us  to  go  either  to  the  north  of 
England  or  north  of  Europe  during  winter,  and  return  to  us 
with  the  spring.  I  can  venture  to  assert  that  the  grey 
crows  never  breed  upon  our  moors:  I  never  saw,  or  heard 
of  one  seen  there;  but  I  once,  and  once  only,  saw  a  con- 
siderable number  of  them  together  near  the  south-west 
coast  of  Devonshire  some  time  in  the  winter.  This  spring 
the  Hirundines  were  very  late  with  us ;  the  first  swallow 
I  heard  of  was  seen  on  the  25th  April,  and  on  1st  May  we 
had  the  swifts  plenty ;  but  the  house-martin  was  not  seen 
with  us  till  the  middle  of  May,  which  is  very  extraordinary. 
The  bank-martin  as  well  as  the  nightingale  is  seldom  seen 
in  Devon;  but  the  red-start,  white-throat,  and  fly-catcher 
are  pretty  common  there :  the  blackcap  I  never  saw. — Why 
the  redwing  and  fieldfare  should  leave  us  at  the  approach  of 
summer,  and  what  becomes  of  them  at  that  season,  I  have 
often  wondered;  in  Devon  they  are  seldom  seen  after 
March ;  but  I  have  often  seen  small  companies  of  them  in 
Oxfordshire  towards  the  latter  end  of  April;  and  once  in 
the  month  of  May ;  yet  I  never  heard  of  a  nest  of  either 
of  these  birds.  The  Stone-plover  is  a  bird  I  am  totally  un- 
acquainted with :  if  it  be  ever  found  in  Devon,  it  must  be 
about  Exmoor  in  the  northern  part  of  the  County.     Of  the 


254  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1774 

Scolopaces  we  have  two,  the  Curlew  and  the  Common  Snipe, 
which  breed  upon  the  boggy  parts  of  our  moors.  The  first 
of  these  I  saw  this  season  March  30th,  the  other  is  with  us  all 
the  year :  the  Jack  snipe  too  I  have  reason  to  think,  from 
the  numbers  I  saw  of  them  in  April  last,  breeds  in  the  same 
places  with  the  two  former.  The  Whistling-plover  breeds 
upon  some  of  the  largest  and  most  retired  bogs  in  the 
extensive  forest  of  Dartmoor ;  and  about  some  of  our  little 
rivulets  we  have  a  little  bird  of  the  Scolopax  tribe  which 
now  and  then  breeds  with  us;  it  is  known  among  the 
common  people  by  the  name  of  Sanderlin;*  but  whether  it 
be  different  from  the  stint  or  no  I  can't  tell,  having  never 
seen  any  of  them  in  hand.  The  turtle  is  a  scarce  bird  in 
Devonshire;  and  seen  there,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  only  in 
the  summer.  We  have  one  bird,  which,  though  a  scarce  one, 
take  England  through,  is  often  met  with  about  our  brooks : 
I  mean  the  water-ousel ;  it  commonly  builds  under  the 
arches,  or  in  the  piers  of  old  bridges. 

The  Starling,  which  breeds  in  Oxon.,  Berks,  Wilts,  Dorset, 
and,  I  suppose,  Hants,  is  never  seen,  that  I  know  of,  in 
Devon  during  summer ;  pray,  sir,  can  you  inform  me  what 
should  make  the  last  county  more  unsuitable  to  this  bird 
in  summer  than  the  five  before-mentioned  counties? 

A  rare  Plant  of  the  Orchis  family,  Limodorum  austriacum 

of  Eay,  is  said  to  grow  near  Alton.     If  you  could  procure 

a  specimen  or  two  for  me  you  will  greatly  oblige  me,  who 

am  with  much  esteem 

Y'  humble  servant, 

S.  Newbery. 


♦  It  was  figured  by  Albin  under  this  name  in  1738,  but  is  what  is  now 
commonly  known  as  the  summer -snipe  or  common  sandpiper,  the  name 
aanderling  being  now  appropriated  to  a  very  different  bird. — A.  N. 


1774        MOKE  DEAWINGS  FKOM   PENNANT        255 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.         Selborne,  June  18th,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — It  pleases  me  to  find  that  my  little 
monography  entertained  you;  it  makes  its  own  excuse  for 
being  short.  The  rest  will  not  offend  in  that  way.  Pray, 
make  all  the  objections  freely  that  occur. 

Linnseus's  letter  is  polite  and  entertaining  and  instruc- 
tive. But,  pray,  what  does  he  mean  by  saying  that  your 
Hirundo  hyemalis  (for  so  I  shall  still  call  it)  is  varietas 
apusi  for  the  ajpus  and  melha  only  perhaps  have  omnibus 
qiiatuor  digitis  anticis;  while  your  swaUow  has  a  back-toe 
like  other  birds;  besides  the  bill  of  your  ci'pvis  and  melba 
are  much  hent,  but  that  of  the  Hirundo  hyemalis  is  streight. 

I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pennant,  wherein 
he  says  that  he  has  lately  sent  twenty-nine  more  drawings 
to  Brother  Benjamin,  being  the  whole  that  were  copyed 
from  your  Gibraltar  cargoes.  They  are  to  be  kept  as  long  as 
wanted. 

Hambledon*  is  a  place  that  I  have  a  strong  dislike  to, 
on  account  of  its  morals  and  dissipation;  besides  Mr.  Hale 
has  a  young  partner,  should  he  want  to  leave  business  by 
and  by. 

My  anecdote  from  Valentia  ia  taken  from  Willughby's 
'  Ornithology.'  In  one  of  your  letters  you  regret  the 
trouble  of  transcribing  your  Fauna.  A  writing  master 
would  take  this  trouble  off  your  hands  for  a  small  sum, 
but  with  this  disadvantage,  that  no  man  can  transcribe 
his  own  works  without  seeing  plans  that  he  can  alter  for 
the  better ;  a  benefit  which  is  entirely  lost  where  a  stranger 
is  amanuensis.  I  wish  Jack  would  earn  your  book;  I 
mentioned  the  conditions,  at  which  he  smiled. 

Pray  return  the  printed  monography  without  fail.      If 

*  A  few  miles  from  Bishop's  Waltham  in  Hants.  When  curate  of  Diirley 
Gilbert  White  would  have  known  it  well.  In  1753  his  account-book  shows 
a  visit  there  to  Mr.  Hale,  who  was  probably  a  surgeon  about  whom  John 
White  had  now  inquired  on  his  son's  behalf. 


256  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1774 

Mr.  Lever  desires  to  see  my  papers,  let  him  have  them; 
he  is  a  man  of  honor  and  will  not  suffer  them  to  be 
transcribed.  I  beg  his  objections  and  additions.  After  I 
have  heard  from  you  again  I  will  send  the  fourth  mono- 
graphy  with  Mr.  Willis's  receipt,  &c. 

Linnaeus  still  allows  your  Fiscis  thoracicus  to  be  a  new 
genus;  he  should  give  it  a  name,  and  you  an  engraving. 
When  he  talks  of  making  honourable  mention  of  you  in 
his  future  edition  you  may  reply  "orna  me" 

No  doubt  the  '  Voyage  to  the  Hebrides '  *  is  an  enter- 
taining work ;  I  have  seen  the  cuts,  but  not  the  book.  You 
should  observe  when  your  summer  birds  come  and  depart, 
that  we  may  compare  notes. 

It  is  a  sickly  time  among  young  folks,  especially  in 
Sussex.  Thomas  has  had  a  pleurisy,  and  is  not  recovered 
yet  so  as  to  do  any  hard  work.  Molly  White  likes  Selborne 
and  looks  well.  Nanny  Woods  is  very  stout  and  very 
brown;  she  is  all  day  in  the  sun.  Wall  fruit  abounds, 
and  vines  promise  to  blow  well.  Harry  has  just  lost  his 
best  cart-horse;  he  is  most  unfortunate  in  horse  flesh. 

As  my  little  mouse  is  so  common  in  your  parts  and 
probably  in  all  the  intermediate,  I  am  amazed  that  it 
should  so  long  remain  a  nondescript. 

Printers,  I  know,  some  of  them  get  a  deal  of  money ;  but 
their  state  of  apprenticeship  must  be,  I  should  suppose  very 
low  and  servile  and  unwholesome;  but  of  all  this  I  am 
not  sure.  Chemistry,  Brother  Thomas  says,  is  very  un- 
wholesome. A  packer's  was,  I  have  heard,  a  fine  business, 
but  at  present  they  say  merchants  are  their  own  packers. 
I  have  heard  no  more  of  the  Eibbon  man.  Jack  will  by 
no  means  obstruct  my  motions  this  summer,  but  is  of  use 
and  service.  We  never  fall  out  much  and  then  it  is  chiefly 
about  quantity  in  verse,  and  there  is  no  moral  turpitude 

*  Pennant's  *  Voyage  to  the  Hebrides '  was  first  published  in  this  year 
(1774). 


1774  MULSO   ON  SELBORNE  ROADS  257 

in  long  and  short  feet.  As  to  law  I  have  nothing  to  say 
about  it;  lawyers  get  all  the  money.  Our  father*  you 
know  did  not  approve  of  it.  Sure  London  is  so  large  a 
field,  and  you  have  so  many  friends  there,  that  you  cannot 
be  long  without  hearing  somewhat  for  your  son.  That  you 
may  get  a  proper  place  to  your  mind  I  heartily  wish. 

Y"*  affectionate  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 

We  join  in  respects  to  my  sister.  Pray  write  soon.  I 
do  not  know  that  our  Coll.-f-  is  Dutch. 

On  July  nth,  1774,  Mulso  writes  from  Meon- 
stoke : — 

"  You  desired  me  to  let  you  know  when  we  were  peace- 
fully set  down  at  Meonstoke.  ...  I  have  two  great  griefs : 
one  that  I  cannot  ride;  the  other  that  you  are  accessible 
by  no  other  vehicle.  This  last  is  the  highest  reflexion  upon 
you  and  Mr.  Etty :  God  forgive  you.  I  talked  of  you  lately 
with  my  neighbour  Airson  at  St.  Cross ;  we  abused  you  on 
this  subject.  You  ought  to  love  us  for  it,  for  I  should  not 
care  a  halfpenny  about  the  road  to  Selborne,  if  I  had  not 
a  regard  to  Etty  and  a  love  for  you." 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.  Selborne,  July  15,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — Jack  and  I  went  down  to  Fyfield  on  June 
22nd,  and  stayed  there  'til  July  8th  and  found  and  left 
brother  Harry  very  brisk  and  very  busy.  For  what  between 
seven  boarders,  six  children,  some  farming,  three  churches, 
and  some  building,  he  has  enough  to  do.  He  has  a  one 
hundred-pound  boy  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Brocket,  who  by  this 

*  Himself  a  barrister. 

t  This  letter  is  printed  from  a  copy  in  a  female  handwriting.  "Coll." 
aeems  to  have  no  meaning  here,  and  is  very  possibly  a  mistake  for  some 
other  word. 

VOL.  I. — S 


258  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1774 

time,  I  fear,  is  dead;  and  Jack  and  Jem*  from  Fleet  street. 
The  house,  especially  the  kitchen,  is  so  small  for  twenty- two 
in  family,  that  Harry  is  embarked  in  building  a  wing  of 
thirty-six  feet  from  the  kitchen  towards  the  brew-house; 
this  wing  is  to  consist  of  a  staircase,  a  large  kitchen,  a 
parlor  over,  and  a  large  garret.  The  kitchen  is  to  com- 
municate with  the  new  staircase  of  the  brew-house  by  a 
narrow  entry  running  against  the  chalk-wall;  and  thus 
the  whole  house  may  be  made  use  of  without  a  person's 
going  abroad.  The  chambers  over  the  brew-house  are 
finished,  and  very  neat.  All  these  buildings  will  cost  a 
great  sum,  and  prevent  the  laying  up  of  money;  but  as 
more  room  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  things  are  all  done 
in  the  way  of  trade,  I  hope  they  will  answer  in  the  end. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  Harry  talk  didactically  about  grammar 
rules,  and  moods  and  tenses;  for  unless  a  school-master  is 
somewhat  of  a  pedant,  and  a  little  sufficient  in  his  way, 
he  must  expect  to  be  soon  jaded  with  his  drudgery.j- 

Swifts,  as  I  suspected,  invariably  lay  but  Urn  eggs ;  and 
as  they  breed  but  once,  their  encrease  is  very  small !  I  got 
Harry's  bricklayer  one  evening  to  open  the  tiles  of  his  brew- 
house,  under  which  were  several  nests  containing  only  two 
squab  young  apiece ;  and  moreover  his  workmen  all  told  me 
that,  when  boys,  they  had  invariably  found  only  two  eggs  or 
two  birds.  If  I  lived  at  Fyfield  I  should  be  more  learned  in 
swifts ;  for  as  you  sit  in  the  parlor,  you  see  their  proceedings 
at  the  brew-house. 

I  thank  you  for  your  strictures  on  my  printed  mono- 
graphy,  and  wish  you  would  extend  them  to  the  rest.  I 
had  used  the  pronoun  personal  feminine  to  my  swallows; 
but  somebody  objected,  so  I  put  it  in  its  place ;  but  I  think 
your  are  right,  and  shall  replace  she  and  her ;  though  there 


•  Sons  of  Benjamin  White. 

t  A  remark  which  singularly  indicates  its  author's  shrewdness. 


1774  "PUBLISH  A   QUARTO   WORK"  259 

is  this  objection,  that  in  a  pair  a  male  is  implied,  as  well 
as  a  female ;  and  yet  he  would  sound  awkward  for  a  bird. 

Linn,  is  wrong  past  all  doubt  with  respect  to  your 
Eirundo  hyemalis ;  the  melba  is  undoubtedly  affinis  to  the 
swift,  but  not  your  new  swallow ;  it  can  by  no  means  be  a 
varietas  apus. 

The  rest  of  Mr.  Pennant's  drawings  are  here;  you  shall 
be  sure  to  have  them  as  soon  as  I  can  find  a  safe  method  of 
conveyance.  I  am  glad  your  Fauna  swells  so  fast.  You  must 
publish  a  quarto  work ;  every  man  now  publishes  in  quarto. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  you  do  not  readily 
find  a  master  for  Jack ;  for  our  brother  Benjamin,  you  see,  is 
under  the  same  difficulty  with  respect  to  Edmund. 

Jack's  epistle  is  of  his  own  composing;  I  have  altered 
here  and  there  a  word,  but  inserted  no  sentence. 

"  Orna  me,"  is  a  sentence  very  familiar  to  me ;  it  is, 
I  think,  in  Tully's  letters. 

Mrs.  Barker  writes  me  word  this  week  that  now  she  and 
Mr.  B.  are  come  to  a  determination  not  to  stir  from  home 
this  summer.  They  plead  the  ill  health  of  old  Mrs.  Barker ; 
and  a  great  deal  of  repairs  to  be  done  to  a  farm-house. 

We  have  had  continual  showers  for  three  weeks  past; 
much  hay,  especially  clover,  is  totally  spoiled;  and  much 
meadow-grass,  and  among  the  rest  my  own,  is  still  standing, 
but  growing  too  old. 

Harry  still  preserves  your  Barbary  breed  of  fowls 
distinct;  but  they  labour  under  a  disadvantage  not  very 
convenient  for  this  climate ;  for  their  down  comes  off  before 
their  feathers  appear;  and  so  they  are  stark  naked  for  a 
fortnight,  a  condition  not  very  suitable  to  a  cold,  wet 
summer.     They  are  taller  and  more  erect  than  our  breed. 

As  to  franks  pray  think  no  more  about  them ;  for  unless 
anything  particular  wants  to  be  enclosed  I  never  wish  to 
receive  one  again ;  there  is  no  money  that  I  pay  with  more 
satisfaction  than  postage  of  letters  from  friends. 


260  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1774 

If  you  will  object  to  the  rest  of  my  monographies  where 
you  see  occasion,  I  shall  be  glad. 

My  neighbour  Mr.  Robertson  is  disposed,  and  thinks  he 
shall  be  able  to  take  my  curacy  in  the  autumn ;  when  I 
much  wish  to  see  Lancashire :  but  then  it  must  not  be 
'til  the  beginning  of  November,  for  I  must  be  at  Oxford 
in  October,  and  I  am  embarrassed  with  a  broken  tenant 
at  Greatham,  by  whom  I  shall  lose  a  year's  rent  if  I  do 
not  look  about  me  at  Michaelmas. 

Swifts  breed  but  once  in  a  summer,  and  but  tvjo  at  a 
time;  swallows  and  martins  breed  twice  in  a  season,  and 
hoTdfouT  to  six  at  a  time  ;  so  that  the  latter  encrease  at  an 
average  five  times  as  fast  as  the  former. 

With  respects  to  my  sister  I  remain 

Your  affect,  brother,  GiL.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  Wliite.  Selborne,  Aug.  11,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — My  best  thanks  are  due  for  your  strictures 
on  my  monographies,  of  which  I  shall  avail  myself  in  many 
particulars,  and  hope  you  will  extend  them  to  the  swift. 
But  I  am  greatly  disappointed  with  respect  to  Mr.  L[ever] 
from  whom,  as  a  good  practical  ornithologist,  I  expected 
several  new  remarks  and  observations,  but  I  don't  find  that 
he  sent  you  one.  Surely  that  gentleman's  scheme  with 
regard  to  his  museum  is  a  strange  one;  for  as  I  cannot 
suppose  that  a  man  of  his  spirit  will  take  money,  so,  if  he 
entertains  that  great  beast  of  a  town  for  nothing  (gratis),  it 
will  cost  him  thousands  and  be  quite  a  ruinous  expence! 
Swifts  may  breed  twice  at  Gibraltar,  as  far  as  I  know, 
because  they  arrive  there  much  earlier  than  with  us.  But 
it  is  past  all  doubt  that  with  us  the  case  is  quite  different ; 
for  they  do  not  arrive  'till  the  first  week  in  May,  do  not 
hatch  'til  the  middle  of  June,  and  this  year  and  the  last 
departed  by  the  seventh  of  August.  Down  at  Fyfield  I 
opened  the  eaves  of  some  roofs  on  June  30,  and  found  squab 


1774  LINN^US'S   LETTEE  261 

helpless  young,  and  invariably  but  two  in  a  nest ;  so  that 
their  congeners,  who  lay  all  round  from  four  to  six  eggs,  and 
produce  invariably  two  broods  in  a  year,  increase  five  times 
as  fast  as  they  do.  Linna3us  is  wrong  even  in  doubting 
whether  the  Hirundo  hyemalis  be  a  variety  of  the  ajpus  ;  for 
the  feet,  the  bill,  the  whole  habit  bespeak  it  an  absolute 
swallow,  not  a  swift.  The  melha  is  an  absolute  apus.  Pray 
send  me  a  copy  of  that  gent/s  last  letter;  I  love  to  see  the 
letters  of  great  and  able  men  in  any  way.  Don't  regard  the 
want  of  franks.  I  pay  2Jd.  for  a  nonsensical  newspaper, 
and  shall  I  hesitate  to  pay  7d.  for  the  sight  of  an  epistle 
from  the  greatest  naturalist  in  Europe  ?  He  will  insert  you 
in  the  next  edition  of  his  *  Syst.  Nat.' :  say  to  him  in  your 
next,  "  orna  me." 

I  cannot  procure  a  grass-hopper  lark.  They  are  such  shy, 
skulking  varlets ;  such  troglodytes,  such  hedge-creepers,  there 
is  no  knowing  where  to  have  them.  When  a  good  oppor- 
tunity offers,  I  will  send  the  drawings  to  town.  Poor  Nanny 
White  of  Fleet  Street  is  in  a  very  declining  way.  Happen- 
ing to  meet  Mr.  Edm.  Woods  lately  at  Newton,  I  pressed 
him  very  earnestly  to  lend  his  assistance  in  looking  out 
a  master  for  Jack.  He  promises  to  do  his  best,  and  is 
a  likely  man  to  forward  such  a  business.  .  .  .  You  must 
read  Lord  Chesterfield's  letters ;  they  are  very  entertaining, 
though  in  parts  very  exceptionable. 

Bear  is  a  sort  of  barley:  Mr.  Pennant  should  have  told 
his  readers  as  much  in  a  note.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lort  are  now 
on  a  tour  round  N.  Wales.  Mr.  Leach  has  lost  his  cause 
with  respect  to  the  lead-mines,  and  stands  obliged  to  refund 
all  his  gains.  Molly  White*  must  lose  her  share,  of  course. 
Niece  Molly  joins  in  respects,     your  loving  brother, 

Gil.  White. 

I  am  mending  my  tiling  and  pointing  against  winter.  A 
stitch  in  my  side  makes  writing  irksome. 

*  Her  mother's  maiden  name  was  Leach,  of  Loveston,  near  Pembroke. 


262  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1774 

From  the  Rev.  J.  White. 

Blackburne  [probably  August,  1774]. 

Dear  Brother, — I  have  sent  brother  Benjamin  word  of 
what  Linn,  says  about  his  new  edition.*  This  roundabout 
method  will  dispatch  nothing.  Brother  B.  must  write  his 
own  proposals,  if  he  means  to  deal  with  him  at  all.  Surely 
you  and  I  could  manage  to  correct  the  press ;  at  least  in  the 
Zoological  part ;  the  Botanical  I  must  not  pretend  to. 

Have  you  any  queries  to  ask  Linn,  before  I  write  again  ? 
You  see  he  is  willing  to  communicate,  though  busy  enough. 

This  new  enterprize  of  my  friend  Lever's  disturbs  me  on 
many  accounts.f  In  the  first  place,  I  wished  you  to  see  the 
museum  in  its  native  spot,  Alkrington;  in  the  next  it  will 
be  gone  from  this  country,  of  which  it  was  one  of  the 
greatest  ornaments;  and  thirdly  it  will  rob  me,  I  fear,  of 
my  friendly  neighbour  for  a  great  part  of  the  year.  I  heard 
from  him  immediately  on  his  arrival  in  London.  His  plan 
is,  he  says,  "  to  pursue  Natural  History  and  carry  the  exhibi- 
tion of  it  to  such  a  height  as  no  one  can  imagine;  and  to 
make  it  the  most  wonderful  sight  in  the  world." 

Upon  this  plan  I  think  he  is  right  to  exhibit  in  London, 
where  he  will  not  only  collect  with  more  speed,  but  also 
make  the  thing  defray  its  own  expences,  which  no  private 
fortune  alone  could  possibly  equal.  If  you  can  send  the 
drawings  to  town  while  Mr.  Lever  is  there,  he  will  bring 
them.     I  shall  go  to  see  him  as  he  returns. 

"What  leisure  time  I  have  I  employ  in  collecting  insects, 
which  I  have  promised  Mr.  Barrington  as  a  beginning  of  his 
*  Fauna  Britannica.'      I  wish  Jacky  would  pick  up  all  the 

*  This  seems  to  have  enclosed  Linnaeus's  letter  to  John  "White  of  July 
3rd,  1774,  the  last  the  latter  ever  received  from  him,  in  which  the  Swedish 
naturalist  mentions  that  he  hopes  to  bring  out  a  new  edition  of  his  '  Systema 
Naturse '  in  the  coming  autumn.  "  Si  tuus  frater  edat,  certus  sum  quod  hoc 
prodest  optirais  typis,  qui  anglis  communes." — A.  N. 

t  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Ashton)  Lever  about  this  time  moved  hia  muaeum 
to  London. 


1774  JOHN  WHITE'S  BOOK  263 

variety  that  he  can,  put  them  into  spirits,  and  there  let  them 
remain  till  I  can  get  them.  Pray  examine  your  sands  for 
the  Myrmeleon.  If  in  England  I  know  no  likelier  place. 
Why  should  not  England  have  it  as  well  as  Sweden?  I 
now  recollect  that  I  promised  some  remarks  on  your  Swift 
in  my  next.  I  have  a  few  observations  to  make  on  that 
bird,  but  no  criticism  on  your  dissertation ;  and  therefore  I 
thought  you  would  be  better  pleased  to  see  Linnseus's  letter. 

I  am  drawing  towards  the  conclusion  of  my  insects ;  and 
shall  then  proceed  to  the  quadrupeds,  birds,  and  fishes.  After 
all  there  must  be  a  general  correction  and  transcript  of  the 
whole,  which  will  be  no  small  undertaking. 

We  have  had  a  sad,  gloomy,  wet,  chilly  season.  We  are 
now  sitting  over  a  fire.  I  have  brushed  up  my  house  as 
spruce  as  if  it  were  for  sale ;  but  it  is  to  give  you  as  agree- 
able an  idea  of  Lancashire  as  I  can. 

Mrs.  White  is  well,  and  joins  in  best  wishes  and  respects 
with,  dear  brother,  your  most  obliged  and  affect. 

J.  W. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

[With  a  copy  of  verses  by  S.  Barker.] 

Selborne,  Sept.  26th,  1774. 

Dear  Brother, — Some  years  ago,  when  I  met  Sam  Barker 
at  Eingmer,  I  found  he  had  some  propensity  to  poetry, 
though  it  had  not  then  been  called  forth.  I  therefore  then 
gave  him  a  few  instructions;  and  this  summer  sent  him 
some  old  verses  on  Selborne  new  furbished  up.*  These 
small  encouragements  have  occasioned  the  lines  above, 
which  Jack  transcribes  for  your  amusement.  By  all  means 
recollect  the  specific  diflPerence,  or  else  get  new  specimens 
of  the  Sphex  formicarum  falco  ;  for  it  is  a  great  pity  that  so 
diverting  an  account  as  that  which  you  give  of  that  insect 
should  be  lost  to  your  Fauna. 

You  must  be  sure  to  caution  Linn,  that  the  CEJstrus 
curvicauda  is  by  no  means  the  parent  of  the  Star-tailed 
water -maggot,  tho*  Derham  says  it  is.  Swammerdam, 
GeofFroy,  and  others  have  since  discovered  that  wonderful 
maggot  to  be  the  offspring  of  a  Musca  hydroleon.  See 
Geoffrey — he  calls  it  Stratiomys.  You  will  be  the  means, 
I  perceive,  of  correcting  many  mistakes,  and  new  arranging 
many  misplaced  articles  in  *Syst.  Nat.'  which  I  wish  to 

*  The  '  Invitation  to  Selborne,'  which  was  several  times  altered  and 
rewritten  for  various  friends. 

264 


1774  HINGED-SHELL  TORTOISES  265 

see  as  perfect  as  possible.  I  wish  you  may  catch  a  curvi- 
Cauda  before  the  autumn  is  over;  you  will  at  once  be 
convinced  that  it  is  an  (Estrus — os  nullum^  pundis  tribus, 
&c.  It  sometimes  haunts  upland  fields,  and  teazes  the 
horses  at  plow ;  but  is  more  frequently  found  in  swampy 
wet  places,  and  is  probably  aquatic  in  its  larva  state.  The 
nits  laid  on  my  horses  at  Meon-stoke  Aug.  19th  stick 
on  their  legs  and  flanks  still.  Skinner  can,  if  he  pleases, 
send  several  queries  and  pertinent  enquiries  relative  to 
'  Syst.  Nat.'  which  he  well  understands  with  its  comparative 
merits,  and  defects,  as  far  as  the  Author  has  borrowed  from 
or  imitated  Mr.  Ray.  Next  summer  I  will  if  possible  get 
a  grasshopper  lark ;  but  they  are  not  easily  procured :  they 
skulk  in  the  hedges  like  mice. 

When  you  write  to  Linn,  next,  pray  talk  to  him  about 
tortoises.  There  are  tortoises  whose  shells  are  always  open 
behind  and  before  "  apertura  testae  anterior,"  as  he  says  him- 
self, "  pro  capite  et  brachiis ;  posterior  pro  caud^  et  femori- 
bus."  These  apertures  are  supported,  as  it  were,  by  pillars 
on  each  side  and  can  never  be  closed.  Of  such  construction 
is  the  shell  of  Mrs.  Snooke's  present  living  tortoise,  Timothy. 
But  then  there  are  tortoises  whose  under  shell  has  a  cardo, 
an  hinge,  about  the  middle  of  their  bellies,  commanding  one 
lid  or  flap  forward,  and  one  lid  backward  (like  the  double 
lidded  snuff-boxes)  which  when  shut  conceal  the  head  and 
legs  and  tail  of  the  reptile  entirely,  and  keep  out  all 
annoyances.  Two  such  (very  small  they  were)  Mrs.  Snooke 
had  formerly;  and  the  shells  lie  still  in  her  room  over  the 
hall.  Now  concerning  shells  of  this  construction  Linn, 
makes  no  mention  at  all ;  and  this  construction  is  certainly 
the  most  curious  and  perhaps  the  most  uncommon.  But 
what  I  would  infer  from  all  this  is,  that  in  his  genus  of 
Testudo  express  mention  should  be  made  of  this  diversity; 
and  the  genus  should  be  divided  into  testis  clausis,  cardinatis; 
and  testis  apertis,  or  by  some  such  expressions.   He  loves,  you 


266  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1774 

know,  to  subdivide  his  long  genera  ;  and  such  subdivisions 
are  very  consistent  with  system.  I  hope  I  have  expressed 
myself  so  as  to  be  understood  in  this  matter;  and  I  wish 
you  would  mention  it  to  him,  and  ask  if  such  a  subdivision 
would  not  be  proper.*  Thus  he  divides  his  genus  of  Anas 
into  "rostro  basi  gibbo,"  ''rostro  basi  aequali,"  &c.,  &c. 
Can't  you  hear  yet  where  and  how  the  Panorpa  coa  feeds  ? 
It  is  a  pity  that  part  of  its  history  should  escape  you. 
I  shall  transcribe  my  Swift  anew  before  it  be  read  (redde) 
to  the  E.  S. — I  have  alterations  of  some  consequence  to 
make,  such  as  the  number  of  its  eggs,  &c.  It  is  remarkable 
that  none  of  the  Martins  round  my  buildings  have  this  year 
any  second  broods.  Is  this  owing  to  the  cold,  wet,  un- 
comfortable equinox  ?  We  had  sweet  weather  this  August 
'til  towards  the  end:  but  since  sad  doings;  much  corn 
damaged  and  our  fruit  spoiled.  I  fear  much  for  Mr.  L.[ever?] 
not  loving  enterprise  and  adventure.  Poor  Nanny  White 
lies  now  at  Newton  in  a  dying  way:  she  has  lost  all  her 
flesh  and  all  her  appetite.  Edm.  Woods  is  your  only  man ; 
if  a  settlement  is  to  be  found,  he,  I  should  think,  will  look  it 
out.  We  have  vast  quantities  of  Hops,  but  they  are  mostly 
distempered.  My  thanks  are  due  for  your  kind  letter  of 
September  11th.  Some  of  the  contents  are  very  strange! 
Over  Leicester  house  gate  must  be  painted  in  letters  of  gold 
Mvyseum  Leveriense.  Jack's  leg  does  not  swell  at  all  of 
late.  I  am  sorry  for  your  accident,  having  experienced 
myself  somewhat  of  the  same  sort,  on  the  same  occasion, 
but  not  in  the  same  degree. 

Our  respects  to  my  Sister, 
y*  affect. 

Gil.  White. 
Berriman  lies  in  the  same  sad  way. 

•  This  distinction  between  the  species  of  tortoises  was  proposed  to  Linnaeus 
by  John  White  in  a  letter  dated  October  8th,  1774.  He  did  not  however 
mention  it  as  being  his  brother's  suggestion. 


1774 


NITS   ON  HOESES  267 


Mr.  B.  thinks  your  lameness  is  the  cramp. 

Just  as  I  had  finished  thus  far  your  entertaining  letter  of 
Sept.  13  th  came  to  hand.  I  am  convinced  by  Reaumur 
with  respect  to  the  (Estrus  hovis,  &c.,  and  much  pleased 
that  you  have  discovered  and  seen  with  your  own  eyes, 
and  caught  with  your  own  hands  a  curvicauda ;  but  it  seems 
strange  that  you  did  not  see  eggs  on  the  horse's  hair ! 
perhaps  the  color  of  the  horse  might  prevent  your  seeing 
them.  Horses  of  dark  color  are  quite  discolored  by  them. 
I  wish  to  know  the  nidus  of  the  great  Tahanus  also ;  it 
haunts,  I  know,  watery,  moory  places.  The  Sturnus  coUaris 
can't  be  a  Fringilla,  since  it  has  no  conic  bill.  All  grass- 
horses  now  in  watery  places  have  nits.  I  am  pleased  to 
find  that  Insect  extends  to  your  distant  part.  You  may 
see  with  your  own  eyes  the  parent  deposit  each  single 
egg.  Your  remark  concerning  the  bivalve  shape  of  the 
egg  is  a  good  one. 

To  the  Rev  John  White. 

Oxford,  Octobr.  [1774.] 

Dear  Brother, — Your  letter  of  Oct.  2nd  arrived  just  as 
I  was  prepared  to  set  out  for  this  place,  to  which  I  was 
called  a  day  or  two  sooner  than  I  intended  on  account  of  the 
University  election.  I  left  brother  Thomas  behind  at  my 
own  house ;  and  brother  Ben.  at  Newton,  intending  to  club 
for  a  post-chaise  in  a  day  or  two,  and  to  return  to  town. 
Brother  Thomas  has  been  bathing  in  the  salt-water  at 
Lymington  for  rheumatic  complaints.  Poor  Nanny  White 
has  rather  been  better  for  a  day  or  two  past,  and  has  rested, 
and  slept  a  little,  and  shewed  a  little  appetite :  so  that  her 
friends  were  willing  to  flatter  themselves  that  her  illness 
might  take  a  better  turn.    She  never  had  any  cough. 

I  heartily  wish  it  was  as  much  in  my  power  as  in  my 
inclination,  to  assist  you  in  the  concern  you  mention.  As 
to  Mr.  Hill,  I  never  heard  of  him  but  at  Fyfield,  and  there- 


268  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1774 

fore  can  only  echo  my  brother  Harry  with  regard  to  his 
business,  and  reputation.  He  has,  it  seems,  a  partner,  con- 
cerning whom  it  will  be  as  needful  to  enquire,  as  about  the 
principal.  There  is  also  a  Mr.  Baverstock  at  Marlboro'  (one 
of  the  Baverstocks  of  Alton)  a  man  in  a  flourishing  way, 
with  whom  brother  Ben.  is  acquainted,  who  should  be  asked 
concerning  the  circumstances,  temper,  &c.  of  Mr.  Hill ;  and 
the  common,  trite  observation  that  there  is  somewhat  of 
adventure,  and  hazzard  where  a  man  strikes  out  into  many 
businesses  should  not  be  totally  disregarded.  The  variety 
and  extent  of  the  business  must  moreover  occasion  the 
frequent  absence  of  the  master,  and  subject  his  people  to  be 
left  pretty  much  to  themselves.  These  matters  I  have 
thrown  together  as  they  occur,  though  no  doubt  they  have 
all  been  considered  well  by  you  before. 

As  to  the  business  of  my  journey  I  have  carryed  it  con- 
tinually in  my  mind,  and  have  been  still  labouring  the  point: 
as  to  my  neighbour  Eobertson  of  East  Tisted,  he  is  very 
willing  and  desirous  to  help  me;  but  then  he  has  it  not 
in  his  power  without  he  can  find  somebody  to  take  one  of 
his  churches  off  his  hands.  He  has  met  lately  with  a  person 
that  wavers  about  it,  and  will  send  him  a  final  answer  soon. 
Upon  this  contingency  at  present  does  my  Lancashire  visit 
seem  to  hang. 

Pray  write  soon.    I  return  hence  on  Wednesday  Oct.  19th. 

Respects  to  my  sister. 

Your  affect.  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 
Fine  weather  for  a  week  after  astonishing  rains. 

On  October  20th,  1774,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"  I  have  been  very  much  chagrined  that  I  could  not  hook 
in  a  visit  to  you.  ...  I  hope  you  and  yours  and  your  good 
neighbours  are  well.      I   shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you 


1774  THE  ART  OF  VERSIFICATION  269 

at  Winchester,  and  to  see  you ;  you  cannot  be  so  displeased 
at  our  not  coming  as  we  are  grieved  at  not  visiting  the 
old  and  dear  scenes,  and  my  old  friend  their  master." 

The  following  letter  to  his  nephew  exhibits  its 
author  in  the  character  of  an  amiable  uncle,  though 
his  conception  of  poetry  may  now  perhaps  seem 
somewhat  strange  and  out  of  date.  The  last  para- 
graph contains  a  remarkable  testimony  to  his  brother 
John's  ability  as  a  critic  and  writer  of  verse.  Nothing 
of  this  is  known  to  be  now  extant. 

To  Samuel  Barker. 

[With  a  copy  of  the  *  Invitation  to  Selborne.'] 

Selborne,  Nov.  3,  1774. 

Dear  Sam, — When  I  sat  down  to  write  to  you  in  verse, 
my  whole  design  was  to  show  you  how  easy  a  thing  it 
might  be  with  a  little  care  for  a  nephew  to  excell  his  uncle 
in  the  business  of  versification ;  but  as  you  have  so  fully 
answered  that  intent  by  your  late  excellent  lines,  you  must 
for  the  future  excuse  my  replying  in  the  same  way,  and 
make  some  allowance  for  the  difference  of  ages. 

However,  when  at  any  time  you  find  your  muse  pro- 
pitious, I  shall  always  rejoice  to  see  a  copy  of  your  per- 
formance, and  shall  be  ready  to  commend,  and,  what  is  more 
rare  and  more  sincere,  even  to  object  and  criticise  where 
there  is  occasion. 

A  little  turn  for  English  poetry  is  no  doubt  a  pretty 
accomplishment  for  a  young  gentleman,  and  will  not  only 
enable  him  the  better  to  read  and  relish  our  best  poets, 
but  will,  like  dancing  to  the  body,  have  an  happy  influence 
even  .upon  his  prose  compositions.      Our  best  poets  have 


270  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1774 

been  our  best  prose  writers ;  of  this  assertion  Dryden  and 
Pope  are  notorious  instances.  It  would  be  in  vain  to  think 
of  saying  much  here  on  the  art  of  versification ;  instead  of 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  letter,  such  a  subject  would  require  a 
large  volume.  However,  I  may  say  in  a  few  words  that  the 
way  to  excell  is  to  copy  only  from  our  best  writers.  The 
great  grace  of  poetry  consists  in  a  perpetual  variation  of 
your  cadences:  if  possible  no  two  lines  following  ought  to 
have  their  pause  at  the  same  feet. 

Another  beauty  should  not  be  passed  over ;  and  that  is, 
the  art  of  throwing  the  sense  and  power  into  the  third 
line,  which  adds  a  dignity  and  freedom  to  your  expressions. 
Dryden  introduced  this  practice,  and  carried  it  to  great 
perfection;  but  his  successor.  Pope,  by  his  over  exactness, 
corrected  away  that  noble  liberty,  and  almost  reduced  every 
sentence  within  the  narrow  bounds  of  a  couplet.  Allitera- 
tion, or  the  art  of  introducing  words  beginning  with  the 
same  letter  in  the  same  or  following  line,  has  also  a  fine 
effect  when  managed  with  discretion.  Dryden  and  Pope 
practised  this  art  with  wonderful  success.  As,  for  example, 
where  you  say  "the  polished  beetle,"  the  epithet  "burnished  " 
would  be  better  for  the  reason  above.  But  then  you  must 
avoid  affectation  in  this  case,  and  let  the  alliteration  slide 
in,  as  it  were,  without  design ;  and  this  secret  will  make 
your  lines  bold  and  nervous.  There  are  also  in  poetry 
allusions,  similes,  and  a  thousand  nameless  graces,  the 
efficacy  of  which  nothing  can  make  you  sensible  of  but  the 
careful  reading  of  our  best  poets,  and  a  nice  and  judicious 
application  of  their  beauties.  I  need  not  add  that  you 
should  be  careful  to  seem  not  to  take  any  pains  about  your 
rhimes ;  they  should  fall  in,  as  it  were,  of  themselves.  Our 
old  poets  laboured  as  much  formerly  to  lug  in  two  rhiming 
words  as  a  butcher  does  to  drag  an  ox  to  be  slaughtered ; 
but  Pope  has  set  such  a  pattern  of  ease  in  that  way,  that 
few  composers  now  are  faulty  in  the  business  of  rhiming. 


1774  TIME'S  ADVANCES  271 

When  I  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you,  we  will  talk 
over  these  and  many  other  matters  too  copious  for  an 
Epistle.  I  had  like  to  have  forgotten  to  add  that  Jack 
copied  your  verses  and  sent  them  to  your  Uncle  John,  who 
commended  them  much :  you  will  be  pleased  to  be  com- 
mended by  one  that  is  the  best  performer  and  the  best 
critic  in  that  way  that  I  know.  With  respects  to  your 
father  and  mother  and  all  the  family,  I  remain 

Y"^  affect.  Uncle, 

Gil.  White. 

Nanny  White  mends  apace.     She  is  still  at  Newton. 

On  November  17th,  1774,  Mulso  writes  : — 

"Why  do  you  think  of  going  with  your  Brother  into 
Lancashire  in  the  winter?  Will  not  the  Hampshire  cold 
suffice  ?  It  was  odd  enough,  that  on  the  very  morning  that 
I  received  yours,  in  which  you  complain  of  the  snow,  I  had 
been  revising  a  letter  from  you,  in  which  you  tell  me  that 
you  had  rode  out  every  day  to  contemplate  that  beautiful 
meteor,  which  shows  itself  to  advantage  in  your  uneven 
country.  I  am  sorry  you  change  your  note.  No  one  bears 
time  better  outwardly ;  and  yet  I  know  by  myself  that  time 
has  made  some  advances  upon  you,  for  yesterday  I  was  fifty- 
three.  I  have  one  pleasure  however  in  this  increase  of  years, 
it  is  a  longer  date  of  our  friendship.  As  to  not  visiting  you  I 
declare  solemnly  that  for  one  cause  or  another,  it  has  not 
been  in  my  power.  ...  I  hope  your  brother  will  succeed  in 
his  purpose  of  settling  his  son  to  his  satisfaction.  The  pro- 
vision for  children  is  an  arduous  duty :  You  have  escaped 
it.  .  .  .  Health  attend  you  wherever  you  go.  The  love  of 
all  here  attend  you,  and  our  best  wishes  for  nephew  John." 


272  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1774 

To  Mrs.  Barker.  London,  Novr.  26,  1774. 

Dear  Sister, — I  have  been  indebted  to  you  for  some  time 
in  the  letter  way :  but  as  I  have  lately  written  to  Sam,  I 
was  in  hopes  that  a  letter  to  one  of  the  family  would  express 
my  regard  for  the  whole,  and  excuse  my  other  obligations 
for  a  time.  My  business  in  town  is  to  meet  my  brother 
John,  and  to  bring  up  Jack,  who  is  grown  so  tall  and  large 
that  it  is  full  time  he  was  settled  in  the  world.  A  person 
who  calls  himself  a  mercer  has  been  much  recommended  as 
a  master ;  he  is  said  to  be  a  good  domestic,  family  man,  and 
in  a  thriving  way:  but  when  my  brother  came  to  talk  of 
price,  he  demands  a  much  larger  deposit  than  was  expected ; 
so  the  treaty  is  at  a  stand  for  the  present.  My  brother  John 
desires  me  to  tell  you  that  he  once  thought  of  returning  with 
his  son  by  Lyndon;. but  as  he  has  spent  already  in  town  a 
good  deal  of  the  time  that  he  had  allotted  for  absence,  and 
nothing  is  concluded  in  his  business,  he  now  finds  that  he 
must  defer  that  satisfaction  to  a  farther  day.  Originally  I 
intended  to  have  met  brother  J.  in  town,  and  to  have  accom- 
panyed  him  to  Blackburn,  and  so  to  have  spent  the  winter 
between  that  place  and  Lyndon :  but  just  as  I  thought  I  had 
at  last  procured  help  for  my  church,  my  assistant  was  called 
into  Devon,  to  return  he  knows  not  when : — ''  ibi  omnis 
effusus  labor."  Sam  will  tell  you  the  meaning  of  the  Latin. 
Molly  White  thrives  well  at  Selborne,  and  grows  tall,  fair 
and  handsome,  and  is  a  fine  girl.  Nanny  Woods  also  is  very 
stout  and  hardy,  and  is  a  nutbrown  maid.  Poor  Nanny 
White,  who  came  to  Newton  in  so  deplorable  a  condition, 
has  for  these  last  fine  weeks  mended  in  a  most  marvelous 
manner  ;  so  that  her  friends  about  her  have  good  hopes ;  and 
if  she  has  no  relapse  will  be  again  soon  in  a  comfortable 
state :  though  London,  I  fear,  will  be  no  ways  fit  for  her  for 
some  time.  Berriman  lies  still  in  the  same  sad  deplorable 
way,  helpless  and  hopeless ! 


1775  NEWS  FROM  LONDON  273 

Lately  I  had  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Snooke;  in  the  former 
part  whereof  she  says  that  she  had  not  been  so  well  for 
a  long  time :  but  in  the  postscript,  written  the  next  day,  she 
adds  that  the  gout  came  on  in  the  night.  The  present 
cold  weather,  I  fear,  will  pinch  her.  Winter  comes  on  with 
hasty  strides  this  year :  and  I  begin  to  fear  we  shall  have  a 
severe  one.  Tell  my  niece  Betty  that  I  don't  love  snow  now 
near  so  well  as  when  I  was  of  her  age :  I  then  thought  it  a 
very  amusing,  pleasing  meteor. 

All  friends  here  are  well  except  Mr.  H.  Woods,  who  is  in 
a  poor,  dejected  way:  he  says  business  will  certainly  kill 
him  if  pursued ;  that  if  he  could  be  quiet  he  should  be  well ; 
but  that  he  is  so  embarrassed  that  he  cannot  possibly  leave 
off.  Jack  is  five  feet  8  inches  and  threequarters  high  without 
shoes,  and  proportionably  large.  Pray  tell  Sam  that  I  shall 
hope  to  hear  from  him  in  prose  or  in  verse,  in  Latin,  or 
English  as  he  likes  best.  The  insinuation  that  Mrs.  Chapone 
is  a  papist  is  a  foolish  slander  thrown  out  by  somebody  that 
envies  her  literary  reputation:  I  have  been  assured  since 
that  she  is  an  Italian  stage-dancer.  Brother  Harry  has  got 
his  roof  on  his  new  building  and  makes  use  of  his  new 
kitchen.  By  February  he  probably  will  have  an  increase  of 
family ;  not  twins,  I  hope,  though  our  sister  looks  very  big. 
I  am,  with  all  due  respect,  to  all  friends. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

Gil.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

Selborne,  Jan.  5,  1775. 

Dear  Brother, — When  I  had  read  your  letter  through  and 
found  that  no  real  damage  ensued,  I  could  not  forbear 
smiling  at  your  accident,  as  I  figured  to  myself  the  vicar 
of  Blackburn,  the  man  who  for  eminence  sake  is  called 
the  vicar  riding  on  a  post-horse  with  fardles  buckled  round 
his  waste.     Jack  with  his  long  legs  would  straddle  along 

VOL.  I. — T 


274  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1775 

with  ease ;  but  if  I  had  been  there,  my  short  stumps  would 
have  followed  through  the  snow  "  non  passibus  acquis." 

When  you  have  settled  with  Mr.  Morgan  I  should  be  glad 
to  hear  how  you  came  off;  and  Mr.  Pinnock,  who  recom- 
mended that  gentleman  so  far  interests  himself  in  the  event, 
as  to  wish  to  hear  whether  it  takes  place. 

Gossomer  has  from  old  times  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  curious.  Chaucer  mentions  it  among  other  phsenomena 
of  nature  not  well  understood,  or  to  be  accounted  for ;  such 
as  thunder,  &c. 

The  Tabanus  hovinus,  I  verily  think,  has  no  sting  in  the 
tail,  or  blood-sucking  rostrum,  but  a  musca-like  proboscis. 
I  have  seen  it  suck  the  galled  parts  of  Sir  Simeon  Stuart's 
working  oxen,*  without  giving  them  any  pain  or  offence; 
it  abounds  most  in  moist  places,  and  sultry  weather.  The 
(Estims  curvicauda  never  lays  its  nits,  I  know,  but  in  the 
warmer  hours  of  the  day ;  for  my  horses,  which  are  in  stable 
all  day,  and  out  at  nights  are  never  covered  with  those 
eggs  at  home. 

Pray  examine  those  little  dancing  Dipterce^  Tipulce  I 
suppose  they  are,  that  sport  the  winter  through  in  fog, 
gentle  rain,  and  even  frost  and  snow  when  the  sun  shines. 
Some  Phalcence  appear  the  winter  through  in  mild  weather, 
though  the  papilios  are  soon  laid  up. 

I  have  heard  twice  from  Mr.  Pennant  within  these  three 
weeks;  he  is  very  pressing  and  desirous  that  your  corre- 
spondence should  be  renewed;  and  hopes,  if  any  resent- 
ments ever  subsisted,  that  they  may  all  be  forgotten.  Indeed 
as  he  seems  so  earnest,  and  is  a  writer  by  whom  brother 
Ben  will  be  such  a  gainer,  I  could  wish  that  you  would 
make  advances   so   far    as    to   continue   to   write   to   him 

*  How  little  Selborne  has  changed  since  this  was  written  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  quite  recently  (in  1896)  oxen  were  seen  at  plough  there  by 
the  present  writer,  who  was  also  astonished  to  see  wheat  cut  by  the  sickle  in 
an^adjoining  parish. 


1775         PENNANT'S   'TOUE   IN   SCOTLAND'         275 

on  the  general  subject  of  Natural  History.  I  have  just 
read  his  'Tours';*  they  gave  me  pleasure  and  informa- 
tion. He  is  composing  a  map  of  Scotland  suited  to  the 
occasion,  which  was  much  wanting.  Mr.  P.  did  not  go  to 
the  Orcades  himself,  nor  Shetland;  but  sent  a  Scotch  clergy- 
man,!  a  missionary,  he  calls  him,  to  both  those  places ;  and 
intends  to  avail  himself  of  his  journals.  Mr.  P.  was  last 
summer  at  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  intends  to  give  an  account 
of  that  place  also.  He  has  now  taken  great  pains  to 
investigate  Great  Britain  and  its  Islands,  and  will  be  well 
qualifyed  to  put  the  last  hand  to  the  'British  Zoology' 
in  a  quarto  edition.}; 

You  are  by  this  time,  I  presume,  settled  quietly  down 
to  your  Fauna;  and  will  be  able  to  make  dispatch  in  your 
larger  articles,  now  you  have  finished  the  small  ware  of  your 
insects.  Frequent  inquiries  are  made  about  your  work; 
and  the  Nat[uralist]  world  expects  good  things  at  your 
hands.  N.  White  is  still  at  Newton,  and  recovers  mar- 
vellously. J.  Neal  is  in  a  most  dangerous  way;  and  Berriman 
lies  still  in  a  lamentable  state.  The  day  after  you  got 
home  I  had  a  cold  but  most  pleasant  drive  into  Hants; 
there  was  just  snow  enough  on  the  ground  to  make  the 
carriage  wheels  run  easy.  We  have  now  summer-like 
weather,  and  this  day  the  insects  swarmed  under  sunny 
hedges;  the  business  of  generation  seems,  even  now,  to  go 
on  among  them.  Pray  provide  a  good  many  cuts  for  your 
work ;  plates  at  present  recommend  a  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bassat,  who  are  here,  join  in  respects.  Pray  write  soon. 
My  respects  to  my  sister,  who  must  be  happy  to  see  her  son 
so  tall  and  healthy.  Y'""  &c.         ^jl,  ^hite. 

•  The  third  and  last  volume  of  Pennant's  '  Tour  in  Scotland '  was  published 
in  1775. 

t  The  Rev.  George  Low. 

+  Such  an  edition  was,  in  fact,  published  by  Benjamin  White  in  the 
following  year  (1776),  as  well  as  one  in  octavo,  and  it  was  of  this  that 
Gilbert  White  corrected  the  proof-sheets. — A.  N. 


276  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1775 

On  January  31st,  1775,  J.  Mulso  writes  : — 

"Are  you  not  now  glad  that  you  did  not  travel  or 
anti-migrate  to  Lancashire  ?  What  a  season  would  you 
have  had  to  interrupt  every  natural  enquiry?  ...  I  have 
looked  into  a  vol.  or  two  of  'Philosophical  Transactions' 
(our  library  books),  and  have  found  honourable  mention  of 
you  from  Mr.  Barrington.  Have  your  further  observations 
been  redde  (as  they  print  the  word)  and  well  accepted  by 
the  Society?  I  should  think  they  must,  for  you  are  an 
accurate  man.  But  I  know  that  it  is  a  rule  with  them  not 
to  commend  or  discommend,  but  to  give  as  it  is  given  to 
them,  and  leave  it  to  the  use  and  judgment  of  the  Public." 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.  Selborne,  Feb.  1,  1775. 

Dear  Brother, — I  have  been  unusually  dilatory  in  my 
answer  to  your  last  letter;  and  the  reason  was,  though  I 
was  much  vexed  and  disappointed  at  your  rebuff,  which 
came  so  unexpectedly,  yet  I  did  not  know  how  to  come 
to  your  assistance.  Mr.  Pinnock  at  the  same  time  men- 
tioned a  gentleman  of  the  law :  but  that  is  a  profession  that 
you  do  not  seem  to  affect.  I  remember  a  person  in  Mr. 
Freeland's  shop*  (one  of  the  book-keepers)  mentioned  a 
House  in  Manchester  that  wanted  a  young  man;  but  as 
my  nephew  was  at  that  time  sped,  as  I  thought,  I  paid 
but  little  attention  to  what  was  said.  I  will  continue  to 
make  what  enquiry  I  can;  but  it  will  be  best,  no  doubt, 
to  urge  all  your  friends  in  London.  The  task  of  providing 
a  proper  place  for  a  young  man  is  doubtless  very  difficult ; 
since  Edmund  White  remains  still  in  his  father's  house 
unprovided  for. 

Brother  Ben.  says  you  must  have  as  many  plates  as 
possible  in  your  Fauna;  for  it  is  the  fashion  now  "to  look 
in  picture-books."     Insects  being  the  most  laborious,  and 

*  In  Chichester. 


1775  DK.  JOHNSON'S   'JOUKNEY'  277 

probably,  to  most  readers,  the  most  uninteresting  part  of 
your  work,  I  am  glad  you  have  run  through  them.  The 
birds  and  quadrupeds  will  pass  off  smoothly.  I  am  sorry 
you  will  not  work  up  your  tour  to  Mogador  into  a  pretty 
chapter;  it  is  the  fashion  now  to  publish  tours;  besides 
some  account  of  the  person,  manners,  mode  of  life,  of  that 
monarch  who  at  present  sets  all  the  naval  powers  at 
defiance,  would  take  with  many  readers.  The  practice  of 
gratifying  such  barbarians  with  elegant  presents,  and  the 
Moors  turning  Dollond's  perspectives  into  walking-sticks, 
would  furnish  matter  of  agreeable  reflection.  Dr.  Johnson 
has  just  published  his  Journey  thro'  tlie  western  isles; 
I  have  read  it,  and  you  should  read  it.  It  is  quite  a 
sentimental  Journey,  divested  of  all  natural  history  and 
antiquities;  but  full  of  good  sense,  and  new  and  peculiar 
reflections.  It  does  not  at  all  interfere  with  Mr.  Pennant's 
book.  You  are  much  to  be  commended  for  your  intention 
of  taking  all  your  duty  on  yourself.  Mrs.  White  is  just 
come  to  Newton,  and  intends  taking  Nanny  in  a  few  days 
to  lodgings  near  town.  Poor  young  woman,  she  is  marvel- 
ously  recovered;  has  been  on  horseback  every  dry  day  the 
winter  through.  John  Neal  and  dame  Knight  are  dead; 
Berriman  lies  in  the  same  sad  deplorable  way.  Mrs. 
Snooke  writes  me  word  that  she  has  been  better  than 
usual  this  mild  winter.  For  some  days  past  we  have  had 
great  rains,  and  blustering  weather:  this  morning  the 
weather  is  very  wet  and  stormy;  the  thermometer  at  50**, 
the  barom**  at  28*7.  Every  sunny  day  insects  abound; 
and  in  warm  lanes,  and  under  hedges  the  air  swarms 
with  them.  Within  doors  woodlice,  spiders  and  Lepismce 
are  in  motion,  and  many  Muscce  in  the  stable;  and  earth- 
worms come  forth  every  mild  evening.  So  that  in  mild 
winters  insects  are  not  so  much  layed  up  as  is  imagined. 
Some  Phalcence  fly  also  all  the  winter.  Mr.  Yalden  has 
a  bad  fit  of  the  gout;  this  is  the  second  attack;  the  first 


278  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1775 

was  almost  two  years  ago.  Harry's  wife  by  this  time  is 
probably  in  the  straw.  On  Jan.  20th  many  rooks  were 
caught,  it  is  said,  by  a  man  near  Hackwood-park.  Their 
wings,  as  he  affirms,  were  frozen  together  by  a  wet  sleet 
then  falling.     Pray  write  soon.     Respects  as  due. 

Y"  aff., 

Gil.  White. 

Mrs.  Isaac  writes  me  word  that  her  aunt  Weston  is  dead 
intestate ;  and  that  her  share  will  be  upwards  of  £5,000. 

The  following  entry  was  made  at  this  time  in  the 
Naturalist's  Journal — 

"  Jan.  20.  Mr.  Hool's  man  says  that  he  caught  this  day  in 
a  lane  near  Hackwood-park  many  rooks,  which,  attempting 
to  fly,  fell  from  the  trees  with  their  wings  frozen  together 
by  the  sleet  that  froze  as  it  fell.  There  were,  he  affirms, 
many  dozens  so  disabled." 

Fyfield,  March  9,  1775. 
To  the  Beo.  John  White. 

Dear  Brother, — As  you  have  long  experienced  that  I  am 
not  usually  a  tardy  and  negligent  correspondent,  you  will,  I 
suppose,  conclude  that  something  has  happened  to  prevent 
my  writing  sooner,  as  really  has  been  the  case.  I  have  had 
an  heat  and  stiffness  in  my  eyes  from  over  much  reading, 
that  made  writing  very  irksome  for  some  time  ;  they  are  now 
pretty  well  recovered  again. 

After  your  disappointment  in  town  I  was  glad  to  hear  by 
your  last  that  you  had  a  prospect  of  disposing  of  your  son 
at  Manchester ;  but  now  I  understand  that  farther  difficulties 
arise.  The  Scopoli  from  Mr.  Pennant  that  you  mention  is  at 
Selborne ;  and  I  will  send  it,  if  you  desire  it ;  but  it  affords 
no  information. 


I 


1776  "HAVE  A  GOOD   MANY  CUTS"  279 

As  you  rather  complain  of  some  reserve  on  Benjamin's 
side  respecting  your  work,  suppose  you  write  to  him,  and  ask 
him  how  much  he  will  give  you  downright  clear  of  the  plates 
and  printing  for  your  copy;  and  then  you  will  know  your 
certain  gain,  and  will  run  no  risk.  Anything  in  the  natural- 
ist way  now  sells  well.  Or  if  he  chuses  to  go  shares  in 
profit  or  loss,  enquire  of  him  what  proportion  he  should 
think  would  pay  him  for  conducting  the  sale  and  publication. 
Booksellers  have  certainly  a  power  of  pushing  books  into  the 
world ;  and  it  must  be  a  work  of  great  merit  to  obtain  and 
make  its  way  invitis  hiUiopolis.  You  mention  also  a  want  of 
books:  might  you  not  also  apply  to  Benjamin  to  know  on 
what  terms  he  would  furnish  you  with  the  use  of  books 
proper  for  your  purpose  'til  you  had  completed  your  Fauna  ? 
It  is  highly  proper,  it  seems,  to  have  a  good  many  cuts. 
Mr.  Curtis  will  superintend  your  engravings. 

Mrs.  Chapone  sold  her  two  first  vols,  for  £50.  Now  she 
has  made  up  a  third  from  essays,  poems,  adventures,  &c.  and 
sold  that  to  another  for  £250 ;  so  that  it  is  expected  the  man 
will  lose  considerably  by  the  purchase. 

Many  thanks  for  the  copies  of  your  '  Gib.  Letters,'  which 
are  very  entertaining.  You  have  the  advantage  of  me  now, 
since  you  have  taken  away  my  amanuensis.  I  am  disturbed 
that  Mr.  Shaw  takes  no  manner  of  notice  of  the  Hirundines ; 
nor  how  far  the  melba  and  hyherna  extend,  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  his  opportunities  at  Cadiz  and  elsewhere. 
Pray  let  Capt.  Shaw  know,  that  if  he  comes  to  Alton  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  him.  The  spirit  for  natural  history 
that  you  left  behind  you  is  by  no  means  evaporated ;  neither 
is  your  mantle  worn  out. 

Lever  has  opened  his  museum  at  half  a  guinea  per  head. 
Harry  has  got  a  fine  roomy  kitchen  indeed,  and  will  have  a 
fine  parlor  over.  This  addition  shuts  all  his  buildings  finely 
together;  and  nothing  is  to  be  regretted  but  the  expense. 
Sister   Harry   has   got   another   fine   boy,   whose    name  is 


280  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1775 

Edward.  Nanny  White  is  in  a  poor  languishing  way,  still  at 
lodgings  near  Vauxhall:  Edmund  White  is  gone  on  trial  to 
Mr.  John  Hounsom,  linendraper  in  Fleet  Street.  The  father 
is  to  advance  with  him  a  fee  of  £250 ;  and  the  master  makes 
a  merit  of  taking  so  little,  and  says  that  from  a  stranger  he 
should  have  demanded  £300. 

When  opportunity  serves,  pray  read  Dr.  Johnson's  'Journey 
through  Scotland,'  and  Dr.  Burney's  'Tour  through  Europe 
to  make  enquiries  into  the  present  state  of  musick.'  Thanks 
for  your  information  about  cotton-cups. 

Should  you  not  produce  in  your  work  a  short  comparative 
table  of  weather  at  Gibraltar,  Selborne,  and  N.  America  ? 
Kalm  will  furnish  you  with  the  barom.,  thermom.,  &c.  of 
America.  I  herewith  send  you  my  best  account  of  the 
cobweb  shower  of  1741.  What  is  said  of  spiders  shooting 
webs,  and  flying  &c.  in  Eay's  Letters  is  so  much,  that 
it  cannot  be  transcribed.  You  should  consult  Eay's 
Letters. 

When  first  I  came  I  fully  intended  to  have  sent  you  my 
account  of  the  cobweb  shower;  but  this  house  is  so  full 
that  I  have  no  opportunity  of  being  long  enough  alone  to 
think  accurately  on  any  subject ;  so  I  must  defer  that  part 
till  I  write  again.  We  have  continual  wet  weather;  and 
farmers  are  sadly  hindered  in  their  spring  crop :  stormy  and 
wet  this  day,  March  11. 

When  Hesiod  says  that  the  chirping  note  of  the 
Cicada  comes  from  under  its  wings,  he  expresses  himself 
thus — 

AevSpeiD  i<fi€^6jx€vos  X.Lyvp7]v  Kara^^cver'  (xolSi^v 
HvKvov  VTTO  7rT€pvyo)v" — (v.  584). 

Is  there  not  a  Frenchman  who  claims  this  discovery  ? 

Sure  insects  have  been  more  abroad  this  winter  than 
usual :    and  lately,  in  our  little  interval  of   fine  weather, 


1775  A  FLOCK   OF   SPOON-BILLS  281 

many  species  of  Mitscce  came  forth.  Chrysomela  Gottingensis 
begins  to  come  forth. 

Brother  Thomas,  Molly  White,  and  myself  came  down  to 
this  place  on  Tuesday  last;  on  Wednesday  next  Harry's  boy  is 
to  be  baptised ;  and  on  Friday  we  are  to  return  to  Selborne. 

I  have  just  dug  away  forty  loads  of  earth  from  the  end 
of  my  kitchen,  and  have  now  set  my  house  above  ground  in 
all  parts. 

Mr.  Halliday*  behaves  very  well,  and  improves  so  much, 
that  his  friends  are  well  pleased  with  the  pains  that  have 
been  taken  with  him.  His  parts,  though  somewhat  back- 
ward, and  slow,  promise  to  be  solid. 

Building  is  very  infectious  and  catching ;  I  am  so  pleased 
with  Harry's  new  parlour,  that  I  want  to  go  home  and  build 
one. 

A  certain  plea  of  license  against  the  incumbent's  taking 
all  the  duty  in  person  can  avail  him  nothing.  Every  man 
may,  if  he  chooses,  do  his  own  business  himself,  certainly. 

A  flock  of  Spoon-bills  was  seen  last  winter  near  Yarmouth 
in  Norfolk :  one  was  shot  and  sent  to  Curtis,  t  who  showed 
it  to  brother  Thomas.  This  is  a  rare  bird  indeed  in  England, 
though  common  in  Holland,  and  must  have  migrated  across 
the  German  Ocean,  no  narrow  frith,  in  spite  of  all  that  Mr. 
Barrington  can  say  to  the  contrary.  That  gent,  is  got  into 
some  fracas  with  the  K.  S. :  so  that,  I  suspect,  no  more  of  my 
Hirzmdines  will  be  "  redde." 

I  will  send  you  in  my  next  what  Chaucer  says  about 
gossamer ;  it  is  wonderful  that  so  remarkable  and  prognostic 
a  phenomenon  should  escape  Thomson,  the  naturalist  poet. 

As  America  is  at  present  the  subject  of  conversation, 
it  may  be  matter  of  some  amusement  to  you  to  send  you  a 

*  Mr.  Francis  Alexander  Halliday,  afterwards  Captain,  R.N.,  married 
Ann,  daughter  of  his  tutor,  the  Rev.  Henry  "White. 

t  William  Curtis,  the  well-known  botanist  and  entomologist.  He  was 
born  at  Alton,  and  probably  was  well  known  to  Gilbert  White. — A.  N. 


282  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1775 

quotation  from  the  Medea  of  Seneca,  prophetic  of  the  dis- 
covery of  that  vast  continent. 

"  veneant  annis 
Secula  seris,  quibus  oceanus 
Pateat,  tellus,  Tiphysque  novos 
Detegat  orbes  ;  nee  sit  terra  ultima  Thule." 

N.B.  Tiphys  was  pilot  to  the  Argonautic  expedition ;  and 
a  type  of  Columbus. 

All  friends  join  in  respects.  Yours  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

Sure  your  Fauna  should  sell  outright  for  £100  clear  of  all 
deductions.  Mr.  Pennant  gets  that  sum  for  his  new  edition 
of  *  British  Zoology ' ;  and  your  work  will  contain  much 
more  new,  original  information.  I  want  to  see  you  the  first 
of  Faunists.  With  regard  to  anecdote  and  real  natural 
history  the  less  you  borrow  from  books  the  better;  you 
have  a  large  fund  of  your  own.  Benj"  will  get  very  largely 
by  Mr.  P.'s  Scotch  tour. 

Under  date  March  7th,  Fyfield,  the  Naturalist's 

Journal  records — 

"  Bro*^  Harry's  strong  beer,  which  was  brewed  last  Easter- 
monday  with  the  hordeum  nudum  is  now  tapped,  and  incom- 
parably good !  '* 

To  Samuel  Barker.  Selborne,  March  30,  1775. 

Dear  Sam, — As  I  took  no  copy  of  my  last  hasty  letter  on 
poetry,  I  am  not  very  certain  how  far  I  went  on  that  sub- 
ject, and  what  I  omitted :  however  I  think  I  said  nothing 
concerning  the  power  that  masterly  wTiters  possess  of  adapt- 
ing their  numbers  to  their  subject,  or  rendering  the  sound 
"an  echo  to  the  sense."  Homer  and  Virgil,  no  doubt, 
enjoyed  this  faculty  in  great  perfection ;  and  have  shewed 
wonderful  instances  of  it:   but  then  you  must  remember 


1775  ANOTHER  LETTER   ON  POETRY  283 

that  fanciful  commentators  have  over-refined  on  this  power, 
and  have  found  numberless  beauties  of  this  kind,  which  the 
authors  neither  perceived  or  intended. 

The  English  language  is  very  capable  of  being  conducted 
to  this  perfection :  and  Pope  in  particular  in  his  translation 
of  the  Iliad  has  frequently  imitated  the  original  most 
happily  in  this  way.  That  gentleman  in  his  Essay  on 
criticism,  which  he  published,  as  I  remember,  at  sixteen 
years  of  age,  has  given  several  instances  of  this  sort  of 
power:  as, 

"  And  the  smooth  stream  in  smoother  numbers  flows,"  &c.,  &c. 

But  the  finest  instance  that  I  remember  in  our  own 
language,  for  several  lines  together,  is  in  old  John  Dryden's 
translation  of  a  simile  in  Virgil  which,  though  I  have  not 
seen  for  these  twenty  years,  I  shall  never  forget  on  account 
of  its  singular  elegance. 

"  As  when  a  dove  her  rocky  hold  forsakes, 
Rous'd  in  a  fright  her  sounding  wings  she  shakes^ 
The  cavern  rings  with  clattering  :  out  she  flies, 
And  leaves  her  callow  care,  and  cleaves  the  skies : 
At  first  she  flutter's :  but  at  length  she  springs 
To  smoother  flight,  and  shoots  upon  her  wings." 

"...  mox  aere  lapsa  quieto^ 
Radit  iter  liquidum,  celeres  neque  commovet  alas." 

In  short,  John  Dryden  is,  to  me,  much  the  greatest  master 
of  numbers  of  any  of  our  English  bards :  but  then,  contrary 
to  most  men,  he  never  arrived  at  perfection  'til  he  was  very 
old. 

Rhime  is  in  itself  barbarous  and  Gothic,  and  unknown  to 
the  ancients,  who  would  have  despised  such  a  jingle ;  but 
then  it  must  be  remembered  that  modern  languages,  being 
destitute  of  the  beauties  derived  from  termination  and  in- 
flection, require  some  substitute.  Besides  some  of  our  best 
poets  have  conducted  rhime  with  such  address,  that  it  seems 


284  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1775 

to  fall  in  of  its  own  accord  without  their  seeking :  and  if 
rhimes  are  shackles,  yet  these  people  move  so  gracefully  in 
them,  that  we  would  not  wish  to  see  them  divested  of  them. 

Blank  verse  is,  no  doubt,  when  well  conducted,  full  of 
dignity;  but  then  perfection  in  that  way  is  so  rare,  that 
we  never  had  but  two  or  three  poems  that  were  worth 
reading.  A  desire  of  raising  the  diction  above  prose  pushes 
men  into  fustian  and  bombast.  Even  the  great  Milton,  the 
father  of  blank  verse,  is  not  always  free  from  this  vice; 
but  ransacks  the  whole  circle  of  sciences  for  a  set  of  hard 
words  and  rumbling  terms  that  make  his  readers  stare. 

As  to  Thomson  (not  Tompson)  his  Seasons  are  sweet 
poems,  full  of  just  description  and  fine  moral  reflections. 
But  then  this  Scotch  bard,  through  a  desire  of  elevating 
his  language  above  prose,  falls  also  into  fustian  sometimes ; 
and  though  he  thinks  much  like  a  poet,  is  often  faulty  in 
his  diction. 

The  Cyder,  of  John  Philips,  a  didactic  and  Georgic 
poem  in  blank  verse,  is  worthy  your  attention.  This  man 
dyed  young;  but  had  he  survived  'til  he  had  acquired  a 
little  more  ease,  and  'til  time  had  somewhat  mellowed  his 
muse,  he  had  been  an  excellent  poet. 

Somerville,  quite  in  advanced  life,  wrote  his  '  Chace,' 
a  poem  full  of  warmth  and  spirit,  and  all  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  young  sportsman. 

Thus  have  I  given  you  my  crude  sentiments  in  a  hasty 
way  on  the  subject  of  English  poetry.  If  my  remarks 
afford  any  pleasure  or  information,  my  intention  will  be 
fully  answered.  Venus,  Jupiter,  Mars,  and  Saturn  appear 
now  every  clear  night  as  it  were  in  a  line;  but  how  and 
when  am  I  to  find  Mercury  ?  Had  it  not  been  for  your 
Father,  who  showed  him  to  me  at  Lyndon  in  April,  1760, 
for  near  a  fortnight  together,  I  should  never  have  seen  him 
^^  ^^  Yours  affectionately, 

Gil.  White. 


1775  TALKS   OF  BUILDING  285 

To  Mrs.  Barker. 

[On  the  same  sheet.] 

Dear  Sister, — I  could  have  much  wished  to  have  spent 
part  of  last  winter  with  you ;  but  just  as  I  thought  I  had 
got  a  gentleman  to  supply  my  church,  he  was  called 
suddenly  into  Devon.  Harry  has  got  a  large  family  in- 
deed; brother  Thomas  and  I  were  lately  at  the  Xtening 
of  his  last  boy,  whose  name  is  Edward.  Our  brother  has 
lately  much  enlarged  his  house,  which  could  no  longer 
contain  his  numerous  family :  a  new  kitchen,  and  a  new 
parlour  over  that,  and  garrets  over  that,  all  very  large 
and  roomy,  make  the  house  now  very  commodious ;  and 
nothing  is  to  be  regretted  but  the  expence.  As  building 
is  catching  I  also  talk  of  some  addition  to  my  house  next 
summer;  but  I  much  suspect  my  resolution  for  setting 
about  it.  Brother  John  was  disappointed  in  placing  his 
son  in  London,  and  now  thinks  of  placing  him  with  a 
linendraper  at  Manchester;  a  scheme,  I  think,  much  for 
the  better  in  all  respects.  For  in  London  they  ask  most 
enormous  fees;  and  Bro.  Ben  has  just  given  £250  with 
Edmund*  to  Mr.  Hounsom  in  Fleet  Street.  Alice  Boxal, 
who  removed  after  her  husband's  death  to  her  daughter's, 
is  lately  dead;  as  is  also  John  Neal.  Poor  Berriman  lies 
in  the  same  deplorable  way  still !  Nanny  Woods  continues 
stout  and  well,  and  is  a  fine  brown  maid:  her  hair  is 
remarkably  fine.  Mr.  Woods  never  comes  to  see  her.  My 
brother  Thomas  thinks  he  will  now  certainly  decline 
business.  Mrs.  Snooke,  as  often  as  I  have  heard  from 
her,  has  acknowledged  herself  better  this  winter  than 
usual.  Molly  White  is  very  well;  and  is  stout  and  large 
of  her  age,  and  a  giant  to  Mrs.  Etty.     Your  kind  present 

*  He  subsequently  quitted  trade  for  Oxford  and  the  Church,  settling  at 
Newton  Valence  vicarage  as  his  uncle's  neighbour. 


286  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1775 

to  your  native  place*  I  have  disposed  of  in  part;  such 
gratuities  in  these  hard  times  are  very  acceptable.  Mrs. 
Isaac  writes  me  word  that  her  Aunt  Weston  dyed  intestate, 
and  that  by  standing  in  her  mother's  shoes  she  shall  come 
in  for  about  £5,000.  Altogether  her  children  will  be  finely 
provided  for.  I  am  concerned  to  hear  that  Mrs.  K.  Isaac 
has  such  poor  health. 

With  respects  to  all  the  family,  I  conclude, 

Dear  sister,  your  affectionate 

and  obliged  brother, 

Gil.  White. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Etty  and  Mece  join  in  respects.  Friends 
are  well  at  Newton.  Brother  John  is  in  pretty  good 
forwardness  with  his  '  Fauna  Calpensis/  or  Natural  History 
of  Gibraltar. 

I  forgot  to  tell  my  nephew  in  the  proper  place  that 
Dryden's  ode  on  St.  Cecilia  is  nothing  else  for  an  hundred 
lines  together,  but  beautiful  numbers  finely  adapted  to  the 
sense.     He  will,  I  hope,  write  soon. 

Fierce  frost  at  present  with  snow ;  woe  to  the  wallfruit ! 

On  May  14th,  1775,  Mulso  writes  : — 

I  am  diverted  with  your  effort  to  ally  me  to  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby.  Could  you  prove  me  next  heir  to  his  genius  or 
estate,  it  might  do  something.  But  as  to  the  precarious 
relation  to  the  Mulsos  of  Gothurst  in  Bucks — tho'  it  wears  a 
face — vix  ea  nostra  voco  ...  As  for  your  itch  of  building, 
nothing  cures  it  but  experience.  You  would  have  great 
pleasure  and  pride  in  an  essay  or  two,  but  upon  a  repetatur 
idem  you  would  shrug  your  shoulders.  But,  nevertheless, 
try — for  the  Devil  of  Taste  will  haunt  you  in  your  sleep — 
"  Aude   aliquid — Car  cere   dignum"     It   will   go  off  in  one 

•  Mrs.  Barker  annually  sent  her  brother  one  guinea  for  the  poor  of 
Selbome. 


1775  MULSO   PKAISES   HIS  WEITINGS  287 

fit  of  Pride  of  your  Performance.  I  am  going  to  see 
whether  the  Hambledonian  has  furnished  me  with  another 
flower  that  will  puzzle  you.  Come  and  see.  I  believe  I 
have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  you.  Old  friends  cannot  meet 
without  confab.  I  constantly  feel  a  disposition  to  welcome 
rou,  being  ever,  my  dear  Gil,  yours  affctly., 

J.   MuLSO. 

After  visiting  his  friend  at  Selborne,  who  took  the 
opportunity  to  read  some  of  his  compositions  in 
natural  history,  he  writes  again  on  July  8th, 
1775  :— 

"I  do  not  know  that  ever  I  made  a  visit  more  to  my 
satisfaction  than  this  that  I  have  just  finished  to  you.  .  .  . 
You  have  a  double  felicity  in  your  manner  of  entertainment ; 
you  can  gratify  your  visitors  both  with  beautiful  originals, 
and  high  descriptions;  representations  studiously  copied 
from  nature,  and  finished  with  a  masterly  hand.  As  you 
intend  your  works  for  the  public,  I  would  not  say  so  much 
in  a  strain  of  flattery ;  for  though  I  would  not  tell  an  author 
how  much  I  liked  his  productions,  yet  I  might  slubber  them 
over  with  a  hasty  careless  compliment,  or  lose  them  in  silence. 
.  .  .  You  have  happily  grounded  ethics  on  a  stable  and 
beautiful  basis,  the  works  of  God ;  and  your  figures,  formed 
from  naked  and  genuine  beauty,  beat  every  finical  composi- 
tion that  would  fascinate  the  judgment  by  adventitious 
ornament.  This  is  my  real  opinion  of  your  Work.  But 
mem.  I  do  not  mean  by  the  close  of  the  last  sentence  a 
slur  on  your  intention  of  employing  the  art  of  Mr.  Grimm, 
or  any  other  more  accomplished  designer.  I  wish  he  may 
add  to  the  pleasure  of  the  world,  as  much  as  he  will  gratify 
my  partiality,  if  he  can  convey  .  .  .*  your  truly  delectable 
scenes." 

*  Letter  imperfect. 


288  GILBEKT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1775 

A  little  later  her  nephew  visited  Mrs.  Snooke 
at  Eingmer,  whence  he  wrote — 

To  the  Rev.  John  White,  Eingmer,  Aug.  12,  1775. 

Dear  Brother, — As  you  had  once  experienced  a  dis- 
appointment with  regard  to  the  disposal  of  your  son  ;  I  was 
much  pleased  to  find  by  your  last  that  he  was  now  finally 
settled  under  a  master  of  so  much  reputation  ;  *  and  I  doubt 
not  but  that  Jack,  who  has  abilities,  will  hereafter  make  a 
good  figure  in  life.  Moreover,  as  you  have  but  one  child, 
I  think  it  is  much  more  comfortable  for  you  and  my  sister 
to  have  him  fixed  near  at  hand,  than  in  London,  where  you 
would  be  able  to  see  him  so  seldom,  and  to  know  how  he 
went  on.  As  to  Jack's  "venturing  to  draw  blood  from 
his  majesties  subjects,"  I  do  not  so  much  wonder :  I  rather 
admire  at  the  courage  of  the  patients  who  permit  him:  how- 
ever every  young  man  must  have  a  beginning. 

Mr.  Aikinf  I  have  heard  of,  and  seen  extracts  from  some 
of  his  writings ;  when  he  offers  to  correct  the  press,  how  are 
you  to  gratify  him?  It  will  be  very  clever  to  have  such 
a  corrector. 

Mr.  Grimm,  the  Swiss,  is  still  in  Derbyshire;  and  is  to 
continue  there  and  in  Staffordshire  'til  the  end  of  the  month. 
I  have  made  all  the  enquiry  I  can  concerning  this  artist,  as 
it  much  behoves  me  to  do.  Mr.  Tho.  Mulso,  and  Brother 
Thomas,  and  Benjamin,  and  Mr.  Lort  have  been  to  his 
lodgings  to  see  his  performances.     They  all  agree  that  he  is 

*  A  surgeon,  probably  at  Manchester. 

t  John  Aikin,  m.d.  (1747-1822),  was  at  this  time  practising  as  a  surgeon 
at  Warrington.  He  subsequently  went  to  London  and  devoted  himself 
to  literary  undertakings,  his  reputation  chiefly  resting  on  his  endeavour 
to  popularise  scientific  inquiries.  He  is  mentioned  by  Gilbert  White  in  the 
last  sentence  of  '  The  Natural  History  of  Selborne '  as  having  written  *  The 
Natural  History  of  the  Year.'  In  1795  he  wrote  a  preface  to  and  edited 
*A  Naturalist's  Calendar,'  etc.,  from  Gilbert  White's  unpublished  papers. 
It  is  unlikely  that  he  was  the  surgeon  to  whom  John  White,  jun.,  was 
apprenticed,  since  he  and  his  family  were  strong  Dissenters. 


1776  OPINION   OF   GEIMM'S   WOEK  289 

a  man  of  genius ;  but  the  two  former  say  that  he  does 
hardly  seem  to  stick  enough  to  nature ;  and  that  his  trees 
are  grotesque  and  strange.  Brother  Benjamin  seems  to 
approve  of  him.  They  all  allow  that  he  excels  in  grounds, 
water,  and  buildings.  Friend  Curtis  recommends  a  Mr. 
Mullins,  a  worker  in  oil-colours.  Grimm,  it  seems,  has 
a  way  of  staining  his  scapes  with  light  water-colors,  and 
seems  disposed  much  in  scapes  for  light  sketchings ;  now  I 
want  strong  lights  and  shades  and  good  trees  and  foliage. 

How  apt  is  each  person  to  think  better  of  others'  circum- 
stances than  his  own  ?  you  say  my  "letters  are  all  written": 
but  I  say  that  you  are  in  much  more  forwardness,  for  your 
Fauna  is  just  finished :  while  my  letters,  many  of  them, 
want  transcribing ;  and  much  writing  gives  me  a  pain  in  my 
breast,  and  I  can  procure  no  amanuensis ;  my  journal  is  but 
just  begun ;  and  the  antiquities  of  Selborne  are  not  entered 
upon  at  all.  Friends  in  Oxon.,  I  hope,  are  searching  for  me 
amongst  Dodsworth's  collection  of  papers  in  the  Bodleian 
library,  60  vol.  folio ;  but  the  papers  that  I  want  to  see 
most  are  immured  in  the  Archives  of  Magd.  Coll.  "de 
mercatu,  et  feria,  registro,"  &c.,  &c. 

Suspecting  from  its  habit  and  shape  that  the  fern-owl 
might  resemble  the  cuckow  in  its  internal  construction,  I 
procured  two;  and  found  my  suspicions  not  ill  grounded.  For 
upon  dissection  the  crop  or  craw*  lay  behind  the  sternum^ 
immediately  07i  the  bowels.  It  was  bulky  and  stuffed  hard 
with  large  phalsenae  of  several  sorts.  Now  as  it  appears 
that  this  bird,  which  undoubtedly  sits  itself,  is  formed 
exactly  as  cuckows  are:  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that 
Mr.  Herissant's  conjecture,  that  cuckows  are  incapable  of 
incubation  from  the  disposition  of  their  intestines,  becomes 
groundless;  and  we  are  still  to  seek  for  the  cause  of  that 

*  Gilbert  White  uses  the  words  **crop  or  craw"  in  a  sense  quite  different 
from  that  now  applied  to  them.     Neither  the  cuckoo  nor  fern-owl  has  a 
**crop,"  and  what  he  so  called  was  simply  the  stomach. — A.  N. 
VOL.  I. — U 


290  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1775 

strange  peculiarity.  Sam  Barker  and  I  caught  a  female 
viper  the  other  day.  When  we  came  to  cut  it  up  fifteen 
young  as  large  as  the  biggest  earthworms  came  issuing  into 
the  world  gaping,  and  setting  themselves  up,  and  menacing 
in  a  most  extraordinary  manner.  I  greatly  suspect  the  fact 
about  the  dam's  admitting  them  down  her  throat  in  times  of 
danger :  for  unless  we  confounded  the  gullet  with  the  wind- 
pipe, the  passage  we  saw  was  not  half  big  enough  to  allow 
of  room  for  the  young :  therefore  if  they  ever  retreat  into 
their  mother's  body  at  all,  it  should  rather  be  at  the  other 
end,  thro'  the  anus,  which  is  wide,  into  the  abdomen  which 
is  very  long  and  capacious.  The  vitals  and  viscera  lie  in  a 
very  small  space  in  the  middle,  and  the  gullet  and  colon 
of  course  are  very  long. 

At  my  arrival  I  found  here  Mrs.  Barker,  Sally,  Molly  and 
Sam ;  Mr.  B.  came  since.  The  young  people  are  clever  and 
intelligent.  Mrs.  Snooke  is  very  well,  and  a  marvellous 
woman  at  81.  We  have  sweet  harvest  weather,  and  a  noble 
crop  of  wheat,  and  fine  hops  at  Selborne;  though  they 
totally  fail  round  Canterbury.  Here  are  no  cross-bills  this 
summer  in  Mrs.  Snooke's  pines;  some  years  they  abound. 
Sam  Barker  wishes  to  be  a  naturalist.  Next  Thursday  I 
must  set  out  for  Hants ;  the  Lyndon  people  [i.e.  the  Barkers] 
will  follow  in  a  week  or  ten  days.  I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you 
are  so  well  satisfyed  with  your  new  curate,  and  hope  he 
will  not  find  the  duty  too  much  for  him.  Jack's  box  was 
sent  up  to  Edmund.  All  friends  join  in  respects  to  you  and 
my  sister.     Pray  write  soon.  yours  affectionately, 

Gil.  White. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  home  again  the  Natural- 
ist's Journal  records  one  of  those  little  experimental 
investigations  which  were  constantly  made  by  the 
man  who  was  ever  observing  and  ever  noting  all 
natural  facts  that  came  within  his  purview. 


1775  ARUNDO  DONAX  291 

"Sept.  30.  My  Arundo  donax,  which  I  received  from 
Gibraltar,  is  grown  this  year  8  or  9  feet  high.  I  therefore 
opened  the  head  of  one  stalk,  to'  see  what  approaches  it 
had  made  towards  blowing  after  so  hot  a  summer.  When 
it  was  cut  open  we  found  a  long  series  of  leaves  enfolded  one 
within  the  other  to  a  most  minute  degree,  but  not  the  least 
rudiments  of  fructification :  so  that  the  plant  must  have 
extended  itself  many  feet  before  it  could  have  attained  to 
its  full  stature,  and  must  have  many  more  weeks  of  hot 
weather,  before  it  could  have  brought  any  seeds  to  maturity." 

To  the  Rev.  John  White,  Selborne,  Octr.  4,  1775. 

Dear  Brother, — From  the  hurry  arising  from  a  full  house 
while  the  Lyndon  family  were  with  me;  and  by  means 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Mulso,  who  came  as  soon  as  they  were  gone 
to  Fy field,  I  find  that  your  letter  has  lain  unanswered  for 
three  weeks.  It  is  proper  therefore  to  sit  down  now  I 
am  alone,  and  answer  your  last  before  my  friends  return 
from  Fyfield.  Mr.  Barker  sets  out  as  this  morning  for 
Northamptonshire,  and  takes  his  leave  of  Hants  at  my 
brother  Harry's  house ;  but  the  ladies  and  Sam  return  hither 
on  Friday,  and  Harry  accompanies  them,  and  stays  with  me 
a  few  days.  How  long  my  Sister,  &c.,  are  to  stay  I  cannot 
yet  say. 

Your  Fauna,  to  which  I  think  myself  at  least  a  foster- 
father,  is  become,  I  hear  with  pleasure,  a  fine  thriving  child. 
I  could  be  glad  to  examine  its  features,  and  to  dandle  it,  and 
remark  how  it  shoots  up  towards  its  ri\iKia\  but  the  old 
difficulty  of  my  Church  stands  still  in  my  way,  and  is  like  to 
prove  as  great  a  remora  as  usual:  I  am  making  enquiries 
concerning  some  assistance,  but  can  hear  of  nothing  yet  to 
my  satisfaction.  No  Grimm  has  yet  appeared :  the  reason  is 
because  he  has  been  detained  so  long  in  Nottinghamshire. . .  .* 

*  A  considerable  part  of  this  letter  is  missing.  It  continued  with  an 
account,  evidently  copied  from  the  foregoing  entry,  of  the  Anmdo  donax. 


292  GILBEET  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1775 

Our  people  here,  you  know,  call  coppice-wood,  or  hedge- 
wood,  rice^  or  rise.  Now  brother  Thomas  has  found  that 
this  word  is  pure  Saxon:  for  hris  signifies  frondes;  thus 
has  he  vindicated  this  provincial  word  from  contempt. 
I  am  lowering  my  bank  in  my  garden,  and  throwing  its 
border  on  an  hanging  slope:  last  winter  I  sunk  my  walks 
so  much,  that  this  alteration  became  necessary.  Where  is 
WoUet  the  draughtsman  to  be  found  ?  Thomas  Mulso,  who 
draws  sweetly,  has  taken  hints  concerning  Hawkley  slip, 
to  be  finished  in  town.  Brother  Ben.  has  just  purchased 
two  freehold  houses  in  S.  Lambeth,  one  of  which  is  to  be 
used  as  his  country  house,  into  which  he  is  to  enter  as 
soon  as  possible.  He  and  Ben.  [his  son]  are  just  gone 
from  us :  my  Sister  Ben.  and  Jane  and  Nanny  are  still 
at  Newton;  the  latter  is  most  marvellously  recovered,  and 
will  now,  I  trust,  do  very  well.  Poor  little  Nanny  Woods 
has  been  ill,  and  has  lost  her  colour.  Brother  Harry  has 
got  an  other  young  man,  a  50  pounder.  He  has  now  a  fine 
income ;  and  will  soon,  I  hope,  begin  to  lay  by  some  money. 
Does  your  migrating  clergyman  visit  you  again  this  winter  ? 
Eing  ouzels  came  to  us  in  September.  Your  snuff-pincers 
extinguish  my  candles  in  a  very  neat  manner. 

With  respects  to  my  sister,  I  remain 

Your  loving  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 

The  following  letter  shows  the  interest  in  his 
brother  s  book  that  the  writer  took  and  the  assist- 
ance which  he  was  able  to  render  in  some  points  : — 

From  Thomas  White,  London,  Nov.  9,  1775. 

Dear  Brother, — I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  in  town,  but 
know  not  what  to  say  concerning  the  disorder  that  is  very 


Z 

_      t« 

S§ 

Id 
Z    ^ 

'"'    o 

z  t: 
o   > 


P 


1775  UPLAND   PONDS  293 

general  here.  I  believe  most  people  that  have  it  felt  ill 
some  time  ago;  but  I  am  not  conversant  enough  amongst 
sick  people  to  say  positively  there  is  no  fear  of  your  taking 
it  now.  Molly  and  the  whole  family  have  had  colds,  coughs, 
&c.,  but  are  now  nearly  well ;  as  to  myself,  I  have  escaped, 
like  John  Wood's  old  horses,  by  old  age  and  other  infirmities. 
Thank  you  for  the  elegant  quotation  from  Middle  ton.*  Is 
not  the  ridicule  some  of  our  wise  governors  would  have 
thrown  on  America  applicable  to  Cicero's  on  Britain  ?  and 
may  not  America  be  to  England  ere  long  what  England  is 
now  to  Kome  ?  I  cannot  allow  that  the  Romans  acquired 
their  riches  by  virtuous  industry;  the  infamous  oppression 
these  people  exercised  over  mankind  has  been  handled  too 
tenderly. 

Hliiic  is  pure  Saxon,  a  bank  cast  up  for  boundary ;  hence 
our  "  linch  "  and  "  linchot "  between  fields.  As  you  seem  to 
allow  me  to  frolick  in  conjecture  (as  Johnson  says),  I  will 
examine  the  fields. 

Molly  goes  to-morrow  with  Dr.  Thomas  to  Cambridge; 
she  has  had  no  return  of  her  complaint,  and  is  to  use  the 
cold  bath  there.  I  want  you  to  read  Plot's  treatise  'De 
origine  Fontium,'  in  which  he  states  what  has  been  advanced 
on  all  hands  by  former  writers  and  favorers,  the  assertion  of 
subterranean  connections  with  the  sea,  against  Eay  and 
others.  I  cannot  help  looking  on  these  communications  as 
imaginary,  and  am  inclined  to  join  with  Ray,  who  asserts 
that  rain  and  dew  are  sufficient  to  supply  all  springs.  When 
you  describe  the  perennity  of  the  Selburn  spring,  it  does  not 
seem  foreign  to  the  purpose  for  you  to  sum  up  the  evidence 
on  both  sides,  remarking  the  peculiarity  of  upland  ponds 
being  supplied  when  those  in  the  vallies  fail,  which  I  believe 
will  prove  a  new  observation.    Certainly  hills  and  mountains 

*  The  Rev.  Conyers  Middleton,  d.d.  (1683-1750),  author  of  a  'Life  of 
Cicero.' 


294  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1775 

are  condensers,  and  convert  by  their  coldness  the  ascending 
vapours  into  water ;  but  more  of  this  when  we  meet. 

I  am,  yours  afiy., 

Thos.  White. 

To  Samuel  Barker, 

Selborne,  Novr.  15,  1775. 

Dear  Sam, — After  some  consideration  I  am  in  no  manner 
of  doubt  but  that  "murmur  electricum"*  is  an  error  of  the 
press ;  and  that  it  should  be  murmur  elasticum.  For  what  in 
the  world  has  electricity  to  do  with  hop-poles  ?  why,  if  it 
had,  should  the  wind  call  it  forth?  Now  as  to  an  elastic 
murmur  or  a  deep  humming  sound  occasioned  by  the  vibra- 
tion of  the  naked  poles  when  agitated  by  the  wind,  I  have 
heard  it  20  times  in  the  months  of  March  and  April :  and 
moreover  when  I  came  to  question  my  servant  Thomas,  he 
readily  recollected  to  have  heard  such  a  rushing  in  hop- 
gardens in  the  spring-months ;  and  added,  pertinently 
enough,  that  such  a  murmur  might  be  observed  every  spring 
in  gardens  among  kidney-bean  sticks ;  as  I  perfectly  well 
remember.  Therefore  read,  meo  periculo,  elasticum^  instead 
of  electricum.  The  only  thing  that  sticks  with  me  is,  that 
since  this  murmur  may  be  so  easily  and  naturally  accounted 
for  by  elastic  vibration,  why  should  Linnaeus  express  any 
wonder,  or  be  in  the  least  pother  about  so  plain  a  matter  ? 
since  it  seems  to  me,  that  it  is  as  obvious  why  a  pole  should 
hum  when  put  in  brisk  motion,  as  why  the  strings  of  an 
^olian-harp  should,  when  brushed  over  by  the  wind,  produce 
those  delicate  chimings  and  unisons;  that  is  by  vibration. 
It  is  most  probable  therefore  that  there  are  no  hop-gardens 

*  Vide  Linnseus's  *  Species  Plantarum,'  second  edition  (1763),  p.  1,457, 
"  Murmur  electricum  quasi  remotissimum  tonitru  vento  exagitante  Humuli 
palos  quid?"  From  information  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Harting,  it 
appears  that  no  correction  has  been  made  in  Linnaeus's  own  annotated  copy, 
now  in  the  library  of  the  Linnean  Society,  Burlington  House. 


1775  SWALLOW  MONOGRAPHIES  295 

in  Sweden ;  and  that  Linnaeus  never  was  witness  himself  to 
such  a  murmur ;  but  takes  his  cue  from  some  hasty  and 
inaccurate  correspondent. 

I  beg  you  would  take  two  pieces  of  spunge  of  equal  size, 
weight  and  softness,  and  hang  them  by  strings  over  an  upland 
pond  in  foggy  weather ^  the  one  as  near  the  surface  as  possible, 
the  other  several  feet  ahove  the  water :  then  I  desire  you 
would  squeeze  the  spunges  in  a  morning,  and  see  which 
produces  the  most  water.  Now  if  the  lower  spunge  should 
prove,  from  repeated  trials,  to  be  the  moistest,  I  should  hope 
the  fact  would  in  some  measure  corroborate  my  suspicions, 
that  ponds,  and  pools  do  by  condensation  from  the  coolness  of 
their  surfaces  assimilate  to  themselves  fogs  and  vapours  by 
contact  and  that  is  one  reason  why  many  very  little  upland 
ponds,  though  subject  to  a  continual  waste  by  cattle,  &c. ; 
yet  never  fail  in  the  severest  droughts,  while  larger  pools  in 
bottoms  frequently  become  dry.  But  as  your  father  and  you 
may  most  probably  hit  upon  a  better  experiment,  I  desire 
you  would  try  such  as  you  think  most  to  the  purpose. 
Moreover,  I  desire  that  both  of  you  would  send  me  every 
hint  in  Natural  History  that  occurs  to  your  minds  after  your 
recent  visit  to  these  parts.  My  swallow  monographies  are 
printed  off  by  the  R.  S.  in  Vol.  65,  p.  258 ;  but  the  corrector 
of  the  press  has  made  sad  work  with  my  unfortunate  letters  ; 
for  in  one  place  he  makes  me  say  that  "  swallows  eat  grass  " 
and  in  an  other  uses  caves  instead  of  eaves :  moreover  he  has 
transposed  my  letters  so  as  to  misplace  them,  though  I 
numbered  them  most  exactly,  and  by  that  means  has  made  a 
jumble  of  dates ;  besides  putting  two  whens  in  one  sentence ; 
and  many  more  inaccuracies  too  numerous  to  mention !  0 
fie !  for  so  young  a  man  as  you  to  use  glasses  that  magnify 
200  times,  when  Linn,  planned  and  perfected  his  whole 
sexual  system  nudis  oculis.  I  wish  you  joy  that  Jupiter 
is  restored  to  his  liberty  and  dignity,  for  the  Cornish  man 
has  seized  on  him,  and  appropriated  him  to  himself  as  a 


296  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF  SELBOEISTE  1775 

new-discovered  world.  Mrs.  Etty's  inoculation  is  in  a  most 
prosperous  state :  only  a  few  pustles  to  each  party.  Mr. 
Etty  and  I  live  here  by  ourselves,  and  having  no  wives  to 
controU  us,  do  as  we  please :  only  we  are  deterred  from  going 
to  London  by  the  influenza.  Pray  return  my  best  thanks  to 
my  sister  for  her  agreeable  present ;  and  to  your  father  and 
sisters  for  their  company  and  conversation  at  Selborne.  I 
acknowledge  myself  much  in  your  debt  and  shall  endeavour 
to  pay  you  in  kind.  Did  you  find  rushes  as  much  in  use  at 
Lyndon  as  Mrs.  Eashleigh*  has  done  at  Penquite?  Many 
gentlemen  in  Oxford  had  never  heard  of  rushes ;  perhaps 
because  they  were  gentlemen.  Yours  affect 

Gil.  White. 

A  few  days  previously,  on  November  1st,  he  had 
written  what  became  Letter  XX VL  to  Barrington,  on 
the  use  of  rushes  instead  of  candles. 

*  Formerly  Miss  Catharine  Battie. 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 


Early  in  1776,  owing  to  the  death  of  an  annuitant, 
Thomas  White  came  into  full  possession  of  the 
property  settled  on  him  by  the  will  of  Mr.  Holt, 
who  had  died  in  1745.  Subsequently  he  quitted 
London  for  the  then  rural  village  of  South  Lambeth. 

To  Thomas  White. 

Selborne,  Jan.  4,  1776. 

Dear  Brother, — As  I  have  often  heard  Sir  S.  Stuart  say, 
that  if  he  had  his  timber  to  sell  over  again  he  could  sell  it 
for  five  or  six  hundred  pounds  more  than  he  made  of  it; 
and  as  men  seldom  have  much  timber  to  sell  a  second  time, 
you  should,  I  think,  retain  Mr.  Hounsom  as  your  council, 
and  make  use  of  his  superior  judgment  before  you  bargain. 
I  hope  you  will  find  £2,000  worth  of  trees  that  are  ripe  on 
your  estate;  and  that  sum  will  help  much  towards  your 
younger  children's  fortunes. 

By  all  means,  when  you  are  more  settled,  begin  laying 
in  a  fund  of  materials  for  the  Natural  History  and 
Antiquities  of  this  county.  You  are  now  at  a  time  of  life 
when  judgment  is  mature,  and  when  you  have  not  lost  that 
activity  of  body  necessary  for  such  pursuits.  You  must 
afford  us  good  engravings  to  your  work,  and  carry  about  an 
artist  to  the  remarkable  places.     In  many  respects  you  will 

297 


298  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1776 

easily  beat  Plot:  he  is  too  credulous,  some  times  trifling, 
some  times  superstitious;  and  at  all  times  ready  to  make 
a  needless  display,  and  ostentation  of  erudition.  Your 
knowledge  of  physic,  chemistry,  anatomy,  and  botany  will 
greatly  avail  you.  The  sameness  of  soil  in  this  county  will 
prove  to  your  disadvantage  ;  while  the  variety  of  Stafford- 
shire *  is  prodigious ;  Coal,  lead,  copper,  salt,  marble, 
alabaster,  fuller's  earth,  potter's  clay,  pipe  clay,  iron,  marl, 
&c. :  while  we  in  general  have  nought  but  chalk.  But  then 
you  must  get  Benjamin  to  write  abroad  for  the  treatise  '  De 
creta,'  and  make  the  most  of  it,  as  it  is  so  little  known. 
Bishop  Tanner f  will  be  of  vast  use  for  the  religious  houses. 
It  is  to  be  lamented  that  Plot  was  prevented  by  death  from 
going  on :  for  he  improves  vastly  in  his  second  history  which 
greatly  exceeds  his  Oxfordshire.  We  have,  you  know,  an 
actual  survey  of  Hants  which  you  must  get  reduced  so  as 
to  fold  into  a  folio.  You  should  study  heraldry,  and  give 
the  coats  of  arms  of  our  nobility  and  gentry ;  'til  lately  I 
was  not  aware  how  necessary  that  study  is  to  an  antiquarian: 
it  is  soon  learnt,  I  think.  There  are  in  this  county  253 
parishes,  most  of  which  you  should  see.  The  Isle  of  Wight 
must  also  come  into  your  plan. 

Time  has  not  permitted  me  yet  to  go  through  half 
Priestley's  Electrical  History,  but  in  vol.  1,  p.  86,  I  remark, 
that  D""  Desaguliers  proposed  the  following  conjecture  con- 
cerning the  rise  of  vapours.  "The  air  at  the  surface  of 
water  being  electrical,  particles  of  water,  he  thought, 
jumped  to  it;  then  becoming  themselves  electrical,  they 
repelled  both  the  air  and  one  an  other,  and  consequently 
ascended  into  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere."     If 

*  Of  which  county,  as  well  as  Oxfordshire,  Dr.  Robert  Plot  wrote  '  The 
Natural  History.'  It  is  no  doubt  from  these  books,  which  were  well  known 
to  him,  that  Gilbert  White  took  his  title  of  'The  Natural  History  of  his 
native  parish. 

t  Who  wrote  *  Notitia  Monastica.' 


1776  'FAUNA   CALPENSIS'  299 

this  be  always  the  case,  what  becomes  of  our  supposition, 
which  is,  that  by  contact  and  condensation  the  water  in 
vapour  is  drawn  from  the  air  to  the  water ;  and  that  thus 
upland  ponds  are  mostly  supplyed  ? 

I  never  saw  an  electrometer.  Our  neighbourhood  is  all 
bad  with  colds ;  and  among  the  rest  myself  also :  some  have 
eruptive  fevers.  Y"  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White. 

London,  Jan.  30,  1776. 

Dear  Brother, — As  you  have  enjoined  me  to  speak  my 
sentiments  with  respect  to  your  work,  you  must  not  think 
me  didactic  and  forward  in  the  following  pages. 

It  will  be  well  to  sweeten  and  diversify  your  tables  of 
weather  &c  with  an  alternate  page  of  zoological  calendar, 
and  interesting  coincidences :  for  the  generality  of  readers 
are  apt  to  skip  over  whatever  looks  like  figures.  Your 
Journal  will  be  pretty  long. 

An  index  perhaps  has  never  entered  your  head :  yet  such 
a  thing  may  be  expected  in  so  large  a  work. 

You  may  no  doubt,  if  you  please,  invert  your  system  as 
well  as  Brown.  You  are  not  sworn  to  follow  the  arrange- 
ment of  Linn. :  by  that  means  the  subject  certainly  rises  on 
the  reader.  The  Swedes  admire  Brown  notwithstanding. 
Faunae  Calpensis  primitim  will  no  doubt  be  more  modest ;  yet 
might  your  full  History  well  deserve  to  be  called  a  Fauna. 
In  strictness  Linn.'s  '  Fauna  Suecica '  is  no  more  a  perfect 
Fauna  than  your  own,  since  some  hundreds  of  animals  have 
escaped  his  observation.  Brother  Ben.  objects  to  a  Latin 
title  to  an  English  book.  Suppose  you  call  it  'Fauna 
Calpensis  or  a  Zoological  History  of  Gibraltar  &c.,'  for 
Natural  History  it  must  not  be  called,  since  the  plants  are 
wanting.  There  is  such  a  spirit  gone  forth  against  whatever 
is  Linnaean,  that  I  would  not  make  the  title  page  Linnsean. 


300  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1776 

Your  Bookseller  must  be  consulted  a  little  in  the  title 
page  and  advertisements ;  as  he  knows  best  how  to  throw  in 
little  savoury  and  alluring  circumstances  to  quicken  the 
appetite  of  your  buyer.  By  no  means  should  you  print, 
brother  Thomas  and  I  both  think,  'til  you  have  sold  your 
copy :  booksellers  know  how  to  subscribe  off  an  impression 
to  the  trade,  and  to  throw  cold  water  on  a  work  lying  on 
the  author's  hand.  We  do  by  no  means  like  your  "  sequimur 
patrem  "  &c.  You  should  have  mottos  relative  to  each  class. 
Ovid,  perhaps,  somewhere  among  his  monsters  will  furnish 
for  the  Vermes.  Pray  correspond  with  Padre  Eloroz,  since 
Linn,  will  no  longer  write.  We  can  by  no  means  see  how 
you  can  be  off  from  bringing  up  your  work  yourself :  for  no 
person  will  purchase  what  they  have  not  seen :  besides  one 
hour's  conversation  will  do  more  business  than  an  hundred 
letters.  Might  not  Benjamin  print  and  publish  for  you  on 
the  usual  terms  ?  We  wish  to  see  your  papers,  and  to 
correct  here  and  there,  not  out  of  vanity  and  a  meddling 
temper;  but  because  little  errors  unavoidably  befall  and 
escape  every  Author.  Be  sure  procure  a  good  perspective 
western  view  of  the  harbor,  town,  and  hill  of  Gibraltar  to 
fold  in  as  a  frontispiece  with  references :  it  will  contribute 
to  explain  many  passages.  You  will  have,  I  find,  near  a 
1,000  pages,  and  800  species. 

As  an  Electrician  you  should  see  Priestley's  History  of 
electricity.     He  sets  the  whole  in  a  pleasing  light. 

Just  as  you  wrote  last  my  neighbours  told  me  there  were 
troops  from  Gibraltar  at  Alton ;  so  I  sent  Thomas  over  with 
a  note  and  invitation  to  your  friend  Capt.  Shaw.  He 
brought  word  that  Mr.  S.  had  passed  through  Alton,  and 
was  quartered  at  Farnham.  I  then  wrote  by  the  post  to 
Farnham  renewing  my  invitation;  and  received  a  letter 
of  thanks,  and  excuses  that  they  expected  daily  to  be 
called  for  to  march  towards  London,  where  the  King  would 
review  them.     However,  the  deep  snow  came  and  stopped 


1776  MR  HOLT'S  WILL  301 

their  march ;  so  that  when  I  came  to  Farnham  I  found  the 
soldiers  still  there.  I  therefore  called  on  Capt.  Shaw  for 
five  minutes  in  my  post-chaise  at  the  Bush-inn-gate,  and 
so  ended  the  affair.  He  express'd  his  sense  of  my  civility ; 
and  says  he  will  write  to  you  very  soon.  He  does  not 
expect  to  go  to  North  America. 

As  soon  as  brother  Thomas  is  at  liberty  he  proposes 
laying  in  materials  for  a  History  of  Hants;  he  is  in 
possession  of  a  fine  fortune. 

Brother  Harry  I  find  has  given  you  an  account  of  IVIr. 
Holt's  will;  had  no  will  appeared  we  might  have  received 
£1,000  each.  It  is  possible  that  the  bequest  to  the  lying-in 
(lying  he  calls  them)  hospitals,  of  which  there  are  seven, 
may  become  a  lapsed  legacy;  because  the  executor,  who 
had  a  discretionary  power  with  respect  to  them,  is  quite 
blotted  out.  But  the  general  notion  is  that  L*^  Chancellor 
will  supply  that  defect.  Should  he  not  interpose  we  may 
possibly  have  yet  £300  or  £400  each. 

I  am  glad  John  (for  now  he  is  very  near  six  feet  high 
I  must  no  longer  call  him  Jack)  behaves  so  much  to 
your  satisfaction.  He  has  lately  written  to  me;  and  I 
have  answered  from  hence'  offering  him  a  book  of  a 
guinea  value,  but  desiring  him  to  consult  you  and  his 
master. 

We  condole  with  you  on  the  loss  of  your  excellent  friend 
the  Governor.*  Perhaps  by  permission  you  may  dedicate 
to  the  Archbishop;  and  as  the  General  is  dead  may  be 
allowed  to  speak  with  more  warmth  of  him,  than  you 
could  have  done  to  him.  Shall  I  desire  Mr.  Lort  to  inquire 
whether  such  a  dedication  would  be  permitted,  and  well 
taken  ? 

*  The  Hon.  Edward  Cornwallis,  a  twin-brother  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  through  whose  instrumentality  John  White  had  obtained  the 
living  of  Blackburn,  of  which  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  the 
patron. 


302  GILBERT  WHITE   OF  SELBORNE  1775 

Poor  Brown  *  the  artist !  it  is  the  fate  of  most  ingenious 
foreigners ;  they  have  no  manner  of  economy.  Forsterf 
will  be  soon  in  the  same  condition;  he  and  his  son  dress 
like  noblemen,  and  give  £60  per  ann.  for  an  house ! 
They  have  published  *  New  Genera  of  Antarctic  Plants.' 
Benjamin  has  a  share  in  this  book :  there  is  Barringtonia^ 
a  Sheffieldia,  a  Skinneria,  &c.,  &c.  Their  great  work  or 
*  Voyage'  is  now  under  correction  at  Oxford. 

Have  your  churchyards  in  the  North  any  yew  trees  ? 

Pray  send  me  Reaumur's  whole  account  of  the  Hippobosca 
Mrundinis.     Pray  write  soon. 

London  is   now   Petersburg;  it  freezes  under  our  beds 
with  shutters  closed  and   curtains  drawn.     Brother  Ben's 
new  house  at  S.  Lambeth  was  last  Sunday  Archangel,  with 
the  thermometer  at  eleven,  and  everything  ice  and  snow. 
My  love  to  my  sister, 

Y^  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

Look  in  Anacreon's  *  TETTIH/  ode  43,  and  see  if  it 
affords  any  apt  motto  for  insects  in  general. 

I  have  been  to  Mr.  Grimm,  and  am  better  pleased  with 
his  performances  than  I  expected;  and  think  I  must  send 
for  him  next  summer.  Brother  Thomas  talks  of  employing 
him  some  time  hence. 

The  greater  part  of  the  following  letter  refers 
to  a  purely  private  matter — the  distribution  of  the 
personal  estate  of  Mr.  Thomas  Holt,  great-uncle 
(in|the  half-blood)  to  Gilbert  White.  It  is  printed 
as  showing  the  shrewdness  and  caution  with  which 

*  Peter  Brown,  a  Dane,  author  of  'New  Illustrations  of  Zoology,'  pub- 
lished this  year,  and  mentioned  by  Pennant  ('  Lit.  Life,'  p.  25). — A.  N. 

t  J.  R.  Forster,  who  sailed  with  Cook  on  his  first  two  voyages,  being 
accompanied  on  the  second  by  George  Forster,  his  son. — A.  N. 


1776  ME.  HOLT'S  LEGACIES  303 

the  latter  invariably  approached  all  business  matters 
that  came  in  his  way  : — 

To  Thomas  Barker.  Thames  Street,  Feb.  7,  1776. 

Dear  Sir, — Our  snow,  like  yours,  was  not  very  great,  but 
most  marvelously  drifted  through  the  hedges,  so  as  to  fill  all 
our  lanes  and  cover  the  gates.  I  was  forced  to  dig  my  way 
out  of  the  village  and  to  ride  for  two  Sundays  following 
to  Faringdon  attended  by  pioneers.  As  long  as  I  stayed, 
the  thermometer  continued  abroad  at  20°.  But  on  Jan. 
28th  (Thomas  writes  me  word)  it  fell  to  7°,  on  29th  to  6°,  on 
the  30th  it  was  at  10°,  and  on  the  31st  it  descended  half 
a  degree  below  0° ! !  a  degree  of  cold  beyond  any  instance 
that  I  have  yet  heard  of !  There  was  a  rime.  At  S.  Lambeth 
it  was  at  7°. 

Mr.  Holt's  blotted  will  continues  still  in  the  same  dubious 
state.  You  will  please  to  observe  that  his  heir  at  law 
(supposing  the  will  invalid)  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
his  effects,  which  are  all  personal ;  but  his  next  of  kin,  viz. 
ourselves  and  Mr.  Tawke  and  Mrs.  Tuck,  and,  as  Mr.  Butcher 
says,  two  sons  of  a  Mr.  Ch.  Holt,  who  like  ourselves  are  all 
descended  from  the  same  common  ancestor,  our  great  Grand- 
father Mr.  Holt  of,  I  think,  Petersfield,  who  had  two  wives 
and  two  families:  but  with  this  difference,  that  we  stand 
only  in  half  blood  to  Mr.  Holt  of  Thornty^  and  the  other 
parties  in  whole  blood.  But  this  makes  no  difference  with 
respect  to  personals ;  for  half  hlood  shares  equally  with  whole 
in  personals:  of  this  I  have  known  instances.  Mr.  Holt, 
after  legacies  of  £700,  bequeaths  all  the  rest  to  the  foundling 
and  lying-in  (lying  he  calls^|it)  hospitals:  but  adds,  that 
if  there  should  at  his  death  subsist  more  than  one  lying-in 
hospital,  that  his  executor  shall  at  his  own  discretion  pro- 
portion their  shares.  Now  it  happens  that  there  are  seven 
lying-in  hospitals,  and  the  executor's  name  is   so  totally 


304  GILBEKT  WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1776 

erazed  as  not  to  be  legible  at  all.  Thus  you  see  if  we  have 
any  chance  at  all,  it  must  arise  from  the  shares  of  the  lying- 
in  hospital  in  the  nature  of  a  lapsed  legacy.  Moreover,  you 
are  to  understand  that  Mrs.  Woods'  children  can  have  no 
claim,  since  they  are  removed  one  generation  from  the 
nearest  of  kin ;  and  there  is  no  court  where  the  Judges  will 
prcedetermine ;  since  if  they  did,  Lawyers  must  lay  aside 
their  coaches  and  four.  Mr.  Tawke  talks  now  of  adminis- 
tring.  As  to  myself  I  expect  nothing,  if  we  meddle,  but 
seven  chancery  suits  on  our  backs.  I  wish  I  may  be  so 
fortunate  as  to  express  myself  intelligibly  on  this  intricate 
subject ;  and  I  also  heartily  wish  that  the  poor  gentleman 
(who  no  doubt  had  full  power  over  his  own  effects)  had 
either  made  a  will  or  no  will.  This  matter  probably  may 
not  be  settled  for  many  years. 

Thanks  for  your  information  concerning  Mercury.  Pray 
throw  out  all  sorts  of  Nat.  hints.  I  have  employed  the 
keeper  of  Domesday  book  to  transcribe  all  relating  to  Sel- 
borne ;  and  am  to  pay  4^  per  line :  besides  I  have  applyed 
for  a  transcript  of  all  relating  to  the  priory  in  Magdalen 
College  archives.  Pray  send  me  word  what  rivers  were 
frozen  in  Italy ;  were  they  in  Lombardy  or  in  the  more 
S.  parts?  Virgil  in  the  Georgics  mentions  freezing  rivers. 
Mr.  Gibbon,  a  Hants  gentleman,  publishes  next  week  his 
first  volume  in  quarto  of  a  history  of  the  latter  Eoman 
empire:  there  will  be  four  volumes  in  all.  I  conclude  re- 
spectively, 

Your  affectionate  Brother,  Uncle,  and  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 

Eespects  to  family.  Mr.  Gibbon  begins  with  Trajan. 
Pray  write  soon. 

Though  Gibbon's  father  was  resident  so  near 
Selborne  as  Petersfield,  it  does  not  appear  that  there 


1776  GIBBON  AND   GILBERT  WHITE  305 

was  ever  any  intimacy  between  the  historian  and 
Gilbert  White,  or  indeed  that  they  ever  met,  though 
very  possibly  thi^  may  occasionally  have  happened 
at  the  housbo  he  neighbourhood. 

To  Mrs.  Barker. 

Thames  Street,  Feb.  7,  1776. 

Dear  Sister, — Mr.  Etty  and  Charles  and  I  came  to  town 
on  January  the  22nd  and  23rd,  and  found  the  public  roads 
better  than  we  expected.  Mr.  Etty  brought  up  his  son,  and 
has  placed  him  at  St.  Paul's  school,  hoping  that  by  means 
of  good  friends  he  may  procure  him  some  considerable 
exhibitions,  that  may  help  to  support  him  in  an  university 
education. 

N.  Woods  returned  a  long  while  ago  to  her  nurse's  house  : 
she  and  all  the  numerous  party  had  the  small  pox  in  the 
most  favorable  manner.  As  to  Mr.  Woods  you  must  not 
wonder  or  resent  because  he  does  not  write :  for  when  his 
daughter  had  a  fever  more  than  a  year  ago,  Mrs.  Etty  wrote 
to  him  every  post  for  many  weeks ;  yet  he  never  returned 
one  answer.  However,  when  all  was  over  he  sent  her  a  very 
handsome  set  of  tea-china.  And  now  during  inoculation  he 
never  wrote  once  in  the  time  or  since :  but  is  going  to  make 
a  very  handsome  present  of  plate.  Thus  you  see  some  men 
are  of  an  ten-writing  constitution,  and  yet  neither  want 
gratitude  nor  generosity.  Why  Molly  White  does  not  write 
to  you  I  cannot  tell,  unless  it  be  because  she  is  niece  to 
H.  Woods.     She  is  still  at  Cambridge  and  pretty  well. 

Brother  Thomas  talks  of  leaving  off,  and  is  letting  down 
his  stock  in  trade  by  degrees.  Brother  Harry  I  found 
here ;  he  was  snowed  in  for  a  fortnight  or  more ;  and  when 
he  went  away  on  Jan.  25th  wrote  word  that  it  was  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  that  he  got  along;   and  that  if  he  had 

VOL.  I. — X 


306  GILBERT   WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1776 

attempted  a  week  sooner  he  would  have  been  stopped  by 
the  way. 

Nanny  White,  so  far  from  being  over-much  affected  by 
the  severity  of  the  season,  bore  it  wonderfully  well.  I  have 
been  spending  some  days  at  my  brother  Ben's  new  house 
at  S.  Lambeth,  which  is  very  commodious,  and  very  hand- 
somely furnished.  The  rooms  are  rather  small ;  but  my 
brother  has  removed  the  partition  between  two  of  the 
parlors,  and  so  has  made  one  good  sitting-room:  he  has 
besides  another  parlor  below,  and  a  drawing-room  above 
stairs  of  27  feet  in  length ;  but  it  is  narrow.  This  room 
my  sister  has  furnished  in  a  splendid  manner.  In  short 
they,  who  have  eleven  children,  shame  me  who  have  none, 
and  yet  make  a  pother  about  building  one  room.  Nanny 
recovers  very  fast  by  living  in  the  country ;  and  my  sister 
looks  much  the  better  for  being  out  of  town.  In  short  this 
house  will  probably  lengthen  all  their  days.  Poor  Berriman 
lies  still  in  the  same  sad  state !  Farmer  Parsons  has  been 
near  death  with  a  fever,  but  is  better.  Abram  Loe  is  dead, 
and  has  left  a  Widow  and  five  small  children,  who  are 
supported  by  Emshot  parish.  Farmer  Turner  has  left  his 
ale-house  and  is  retired  to  his  new  house.  He  is  before 
this,  I  trust,  marryed  to  his  housekeeper  Rose  Rawkins; 
the  Bridegroom  is  71  and  the  bride  69 !  I  used  to  say 
that  female  beauty  does  not  last  above  a  century ;  but  now 
I  begin  to  retract.  Betty  Stevens  is  dead,  and  Thomas's 
mother  past  all  hopes.  I  did  not  send  for  Baptist  Isaac 
at  Xmass,  but  hope  to  see  him  at  Whitsontide.  Mrs.  Snooke, 
I  fear,  must  suffer." 

To  Samuel  Barker. 

[On  the  same  sheet  as  above]. 

Dear  Sam, — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  and  intelligent 
letter;  but  you  never  told  me  whether  the  good  people 
of   Lyndon   hum  rushes,  or   not;   nor   what  you  think  of 


1776  "SEND  ALL  MANNER  OF  HINTS"  307 

my  amendment  of  murmur  electricum  of  Linn.  Dr.  Hales, 
in  'Vegetable  Statics,'  settles  the  point  from  experiment, 
that  the  moister  earth  is,  the  more  deio  it  attracts ;  and 
that  a  surface  of  ivater  attracts  more  moisture  from  the 
air  than  a  surface  of  moist  earth.  I  wish  I  could  assist 
you  in  mosses:  time  and  practice  will  render  you  more 
adroit;  but  some  lessons  would  be  better.  Dr.  Forster 
has  already  published  a  quarto  vol.  of  Antarctic  genera ;  new 
genera,  with  cuts.  It  is  a  splendid  book  in  Latin,  and 
dedicated  to  the  king.  Brother  Ben.  has  a  share.  The 
Doctor  has  done  honor  to  his  friends;  and  has  got  a 
Barringtoniay  a  Banksia,  a  Sheffieldia^  a  Skinneria,  &c.  The 
Barringtonia  is  a  noble  flower,  and  is  folyandria  monogynia. 
The  Latin,  I  think,  is  good.  His  nautical  work,  in  English, 
is  now  under  correction,  as  to  stile  and  idiom,  at  Oxford. 
Pray  be  more  explicit  about  "the  influence  of  the  W.  and 
S.  exposure  on  our  trees."  We  that  see  them  daily  do  not  so 
much  observe.  Write  very  soon  and  direct  to  this  house. 
Send  me  all  manner  of  hints  for  Natural  History.  I  have 
made  a  visit  to  Grimm.  Brother  John  has  finished  his 
Fauna;  the  work  will  be  large.  Mr.  Barrington  wants 
me  to  join  with  him  in  a  Natural  History  publication,  but  if 
I  publish  at  all,  I  shall  come  forth  by  myself.  Brother 
Thomas  is  laying  up  materials  for  an  History  of  Hants ;  he 
will  some  day  take  an  artist  down. 

The  first  part  of  the  following  letter  relates  to  the 
Chancery  suit  resulting  from  Mr.  Holt's  will,  which 
seemed  likely  to  rival  the  celebrated  one  of  "  Jarndyce  v, 
Jarndyce"  in  length.  A  letter  of  the  same  date,  and  on 
the  same  subject,  addressed  to  Mr.  Thos.  Barker,  ends  : 

"  Perhaps  by  and  by  the  L<*  Chancellor  may  be  of  our  first 
councils  opinion,  and  may  decree  away  everything  from  us. 
So  uncertain  are  all  human  concerns ! " 


308  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1776 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.       Thames  street,  Feb.  27, 1776. 

Dear  Brother, — Since  I  came  up  I  wrote  you  a  very  long 
letter,  and  was  in  hopes  of  an  answer. 

Our  interest  in  Mr.  Holt's  effects  wears  a  better  face  than 
when  I  wrote.  For  now  a  second  council  (Mr.  Madocks) 
says  point  blank  that  the  legacy  intended  for  the  lyiTig-in 
hospitals  is  lapsed  to  all  intents  and  'purposes  by  the  erasure 
of  the  executor  who  had  a  discretionary  power  of  pro- 
portioning their  shares  respectively;  there  are  seven  lying- 
in  hospitals.  Moreover  the  commons,  before  whom  this 
matter  has  been  pleaded,  are  of  the  same  opinion  with 
•  Mr.  Madocks.  Mr.  M.  farther  hints  a  suspicion  of  the 
invalidity  of  the  whole  will;  but  on  that  event  we  must 
not  presume;  most  probably  the  foundling  Hospital  will 
be  secure  of  about  £4,000.  Mr.  Tawke  has  acted  in  an 
underhand  manner  by  endeavouring  to  steal  administration 
by  himself;  but  the  commons  and  foundling  both  seem 
to  declare  that  he  shall  never  administer,  but  that  the 
Whites  shall.  Supposing  by  and  by  that  chancery  does 
not  take  all  away  by  declaring  the  claim  of  the  lying-in 
Hospitals  valid,  we  shall  have  somewhat  about  £4,000  to 
divide  among  8  people;  had  the  will  been  null  we  should 
have  seen  upwards  of  £1,000  each.*  This  is  all  I  know 
at  present :  and  I  thought  you  would  be  glad  to  hear  what 
is  doing.  I  have  sent  to  John  Pott's  surgery  a  tine  quarto 
book.  Your  townsman  Mr.  Livesey  is  now  under  Mr. 
Charles  White  at  Manchester;  he  writes  to  brother  Ben. 
and  gives  a  very  good  account  of  your  son; — "that  omnes 
omnia  bona  dicere,  et  laudare  fortunas  tuas,  qui  filium 
haberes  tali  ingenio  prseditum." 

I   have  seen   a  copy  of  Mr.  Pennant's   new  edition   of 
'  British  Zoology,'  but  he   has  put   the  matter  into  some 

*  Whether  Gilbert  White  and  his  brothers  and  sisters  ever  received  any  of 
this  money  does  not  appear. 


1776  CORRECTS   'BRITISH   ZOOLOGY'  309 

stranger's  hands,  and  has  left  standing  many  old  errors ;  so 
that  many  sheets  must  be  cancelled;  and  I  must  correct 
over  agam  what  I  have  corrected  'til  I  am  quite  sick  ! ! 
The  printing  also  is  very  incorrect. 

Pray  write  very  soon  to  this  place.  Respects  to  my  sister. 
Nanny  White  improves  every  day.  Brother  Ben.  has  a  good 
house  at  South  Lambeth,  elegantly  furnished ;  but  the  water 
at  present  is  deep  in  the  cellar.         Y""  loving  Bro. 

Gil.  White. 

On  this  letter  Professor  Newton  sends  the  fol- 
lowing note : — 

"The  'new  edition'  of  Pennant's  'British  Zoology' 
referred  to  above  is  that  which  on  the  title-page  is  called 
the  fourth,  and  it  appeared  in  1776  in  two  forms — octavo 
and  quarto — with  the  same  date,  and  each  has  on  the 
title-page  of  its  four  volumes,  'Warrington:  printed  by 
William  Eyres,  for  Benjamin  White.'  It  is  pretty  evident 
that  the  printer  must  have  set  up  the  type  from  a  copy 
of  the  old  text,  in  which  had  not  been  marked  the  numerous 
additions  to  and  corrections  of  the  same,  which  Gilbert 
White  had  communicated  to  the  author  in  the  course  of 
the  letters  which  now  form  the  bulk  of  the  first  part  of 
'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne.'  The  fact  of  White's 
having  corrected  the  proofs  of  this  edition  is  sufficient 
explanation  of  the  omission  of  his  own  name  in  passages 
where  it  would  have  been  expected  to  occur;  for  we  may 
be  sure  he  would  be  the  last  man  to  intrude  it.  It  was 
thus  left  for  Pennant  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  he 
received  from  White  among  others  in  the  Preface  of  the 
work;  and  the  enormous  improvements  due  to  White's 
co-operation  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  compare 
this  fourth  edition  with  its  predecessors,  and  at  the  same 
time  bear  in  mind  the  contents  of  White's  letters  to  Pen- 
nant as  subsequently  published." 


310  GILBEET  WHITE   OF  SELBOENE  1776 

It  seems  a  pity  that  Gilbert  White's  really  great 
services  to  Pennant  should  only  be  recognised  by 
the  inclusion  of  his  name  in  a  list  of  twenty-four 
"  learned  and  ingenious  friends,"  to  whose  "  kind 
informations  "  Pennant  attributed  ''  every  merit  that 
may  appear  in  the  present  edition,  and  every  error 
that  may  have  been  suppressed  from  the  former." 

To  the  Rev,  John  White,    Thames  street,  March  5,  1776. 

Dear  Brother, — Thanks  for  your  long  and  communicative 
letter.  You  will  be  pleased  if  you  approve  of  the  step  we 
are  taking  towards  the  business  of  administration,  to  sign, 
seal,  and  deliver  the  enclosed  letter  of  attorney,  and  see 
that  it  is  witnessed  by  two  persons :  Brother  Tho:  and  Ben: 
as  stationary  parties,  will  be  so  kind  as  to  act  for  the  whole 
brotherhood.  Be  pleased  to  remember  that  tho'  our  last 
council  strongly  asserts  that  we  have  a  full  claim  to  all 
that  was  intended  for  the  seven  lying  in  hospitals;  yet  be 
pleased  to  bear  in  mind  also  that  our  first  council  said  also 
that  the  whole  will  was  valid :  so  that  should  the  Lord 
Chancellor  decree  away  the  whole,  we  must  not  be  chagrined 
and  disappointed.  Three  or  four  hundred  pounds  apiece 
are  worth  trying  for,  and  will  dedamage  Harry  from  his 
building ;  and  do  many  other  good  feats.  Eeturn  the  in- 
strument when  executed.  Brother  Thomas  and  I  both 
think  that  you  should  yourself  write  to  the  Archbishop 
[Cornwallis]  one  of  your  best  letters,  and  beg  to  know  of 
him  whether  you  might  dedicate  to  him,  and  tell  him  the 
reason  why ;  and  then  you  will  act  on  sure  grounds.  If 
you  are  not  permitted  you  might  mention  the  General  in 
your  preface. 

Brother  Henry  went  away  in  January  before  the  snow 
was  melted,  and  went  through  between  high  walls  of  that 


1776  TITLE  OF  JOHN  WHITE'S  BOOK  311 

meteor.  Brother  Thomas  by  no  means  approves  of  your 
title  of  'Zoological  Anecdotes';  he  thinks  the  latter  too 
mean  and  unworthy  a  great  book.  He  rather  thinks  that 
you  should  say,  *The  Natural  History  of  the  quadrttpeds^ 
birds,  fishes  and  insects  of  Southern  Spain!  with  &c.  We 
wish  also  that  you  would  throw  something  savoury  into 
your  title-page  concerning  migration ;  for  many  readers  pay 
attention  to  that  circumstance,  without  regarding  any  other 
parts  of  Nat.  Hist.  Say  what  you  can  concerning  vegetation ; 
for  the  love  of  such  knowledge  increases.  Even  Bishops 
(your  Bishop  in  particular)  in  order  to  recommend  them- 
selves, study  botany.  Mr.  Curtis  says,  that  men  from  the 
other  end  of  the  town  call  on  him  in  their  coaches  to  desire 
private  lectures  for  grown  gentlemen.  But  your  bookseller, 
at  last,  will  be  your  best  adviser  respecting  a  title  page ;  for 
such  men  best  understand  the  pulse  of  the  publick. 

Pray  write  to  Selborne  not  long  hence. 

Jack   should   send   me  an  account  of  the  thermometer 
at  Manchester.     Mr.  Lever  has  custom  at  his  shop;  but 
whether  adequate  to  his  boundless  views,  no  one  can  guess. 
He  is  furnishing  the  ivhole  house  with  specimens ;  still 
"  Some  Demon  whispers.  Bubo,*  have  a  taste." 

Brown,  I  think,  is  in  gaol  in  St.  George's  fields;  but 
artists  never  work  more  steadily  than  when  under  confine- 
ment. Forster  has  just  received  a  letter  from  Linnseus,  who 
wants  to  publish  a  new  mantissa  of  plants  in  England; 
Brother  Benjamin  declines  meddling.  Forster  says  that 
when  you  write  to  Linn,  you  should  direct  to  him  not  as 
professor  at  Upsal,  but  as  academician  \  since  all  such 
letters  go  free,  because  the  academy  is  of  royal  institution. 

Forster's  new  genera  of  Antarctic  plants  do  not  sell;  so 

*  The  allusion  here  is  puzzling.  Why  "  Bubo  "  should  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  "Visto"  does  not  appear.  Possibly  Lever  may  have  been 
owl-like  in  appearance,  or  perhaps  it  was  a  misquotation  from  a  momentary 
lapse  of  memory. 


312  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1776 

that  the  Skinneria,  the  Sheffieldia,  the  Barringtmiia  are  like 
to  sleep.  Botanists  think  they  shall  never  see  the  originals ; 
and  other  readers  care  not  a  farthing  about  the  matter. 

I  marvel  at  the  mildness  of  your  weather  in  January. '  I 
told  you,  I  think,  that  on  the  31st  my  thermometer  was 
J  below  0°.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  peculiarly  severe 
current  at  Selborne.  Mr.  Yalden  was  so  supine  as  never  to 
put  his  thermometer  out !  The  thermometer  at  S.  Lambeth 
was  at  6°;  at  Fy field  15°;  at  Lyndon  19°!  in  London  areas 
at  20°. 

We  join  in  respects.  Y"^  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

I  return  home  next  week.  Nanny  White  rides  out  at 
her  father's  country-house  every  day ;  and  improves  wonder- 
fully.    Molly  White  is  at  Cambridge. 

Sir  Tho.  G[a]teh[ou]se  is  ruined,  and  locked  up  in  a  garret 
here  in  town  for  fear  of  his  creditors;  and  his  lady,  who 
brought  a  £1,000  per  ann.  will,  for  his  life,  be  reduced  to 
poverty !    Your  widow-annuity  is  paid. 

To  Thomas  Barker.  London,  Mar.  20,  1776. 

Dear  Sir, — You  will  be  pleased  to  remember  that  we 
always  mentioned  Mr.  Holt's  money  concerns  as  matters  of 
the  greatest  uncertainty;  and  were  well  aware  from  the 
first  that  they  must  all  undergo  the  scrutiny  of  the  court  of 
chancery,  in  which  the  Lord  Chancellor  may  decree  them  all 
away,  as  to  him  shall  seem  most  proper.  But  as  some  body 
must  take  on  their  administration,  my  Brothers  Thomas 
and  Benjamin  are  willing  to  undergo  that  troublesome  trust, 
thinking  it  best  not  to  leave  a  business  in  which  our  family 
is  so  largely  concerned  to  strangers,  or  insufficient  people. 
The  Judge  in  the  Commons  has  already  determined,  upon 
the  application  of  Mr.  Tawke  in  which  he  had  no  concern, 


1776  SEXUALITY  OF  MOSSES  313 

that  neither  the  Foundling  Hospital,  nor  any  of  the  Lying-in 
Hospitals  shall  administer,  but  the  next  of  kin. 

All  our  chalk-barley  was  greatly  damaged :  we  have  none 
good  but  from  the  sands,  where  their  harvest  was  earlier. 
The  former  sells  for  about  20s.  and  the  latter  for  about  26s. 
Farther  west,  where  they  have  nothing  but  chalk-downs, 
all  their  barley  was  pretty  well  spoiled;  so  that  Harry 
complains  he  cannot,  as  yet,  get  any  price  at  all  for  his 
crop. 

What  pigeons  in  a  state  of  nature  may  do  I  cannot 
pretend  to  say ;  but  this  I  know,  that  tame  pigeons,  which 
are  pampered  by  high  feeding,  and  lie  perhaps  under  more 
frequent  temptations  from  living  together  in  crouds,  are 
apt  to  forget  the  rules  of  strict  chastity,  and  follow  too 
often  the  example  of  people  in  high  life.  As  to  the  smaller 
birds,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  ascertain  the  identity  of 
the  man  and  wife  in  different  years. 

Yours  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

I  thank  you  for  this  hint;  and  shall  always  be  glad  of 
more. 

To  Samuel  Barker. 

[On  the  same  sheet  as  the  above.] 

Dear  Sam, — You  may  comfort  yourself  that  you  are  not 
the  only  person  that  finds  himself  under  difficulties  respect- 
ing the  sexuality  of  mosses.  For  Mr.  Curtis  is  by  no  means 
satisfy ed  concerning  the  distinctions  made  use  of;  but 
suspects  very  much  that  there  are  not  the  same  obvious 
distinctions  in  them  which  in  the  more  common  plants  so 
rationally  support  the  Linnsean  system.  He  is  a  very 
friendly  man,  and  always  willing  to  communicate;  and 
has  therefore  desired  me  to  send  you  down  the  enclosed 
plate  containing  representations  of  the  fructification,  &c.  of 
his   mosses,  such  as  he  uses  in  his  own  lectures   on  the 


314  GILBEET  WHITE  OF  SELBOENE  1776 

occasion.  In  the  plate  respecting  the  male  and  female 
Vcdlisneria  you  will  see  a  wonderful  instance  of  the  wisdom 
of  providence.  Mrs.  Stebbing*  and  I  go  down  to  Selborne 
together  on  Friday  next  in  a  post-chaise.     I  shall  not  forget 

to  take  my  sister's  present. 

Y"  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

The  water-snails,  two  or  three  species,  now  begin  to 
be  buoyant,  and  to  crawl  with  their  bellies  upwards  on 
or  against  the  surface  of  the  water.  We  have  none  round 
Seleburne. 

On  March  26tli,  1776,  after  his  friend's  return 
from  his  visit  to  London  in  January  and  February, 
where  he  noted  in  his  Naturalist's  Journal  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  town  "in  Siberian  weather,"  Mulso 
writes  from  Winchester  : — 

"I  cannot  tell  where  this  will  reach  you;  but  knowing 
your  old  exactness,  I  imagine  that  you  are  now  returned  to 
your  Curacy,  as  your  tether  has  been  stretched  this  time 
more  than  usual. 

I  hope  you  are  apprized  by  this  time  of  the  value  of  your 
share  of  the  assets  of  Mr.  Holt,  and  have  found  them  rather 
to  exceed  than  to  fall  short  of  your  expectations.  It  is  well 
when  so  good  a  fortune  falls  into  the  hands  of  so  good  a 
man  as  your  brother  Thomas. 

I  have  hardly  heard  from  my  brother  or  sister  Mulso 
this  winter.  I  only  heard  from  Sister  Chapone  that  you 
had  been  at  their  house.  I  therefore  shall  be  curious  to 
know  whether  you  fixed  with  my  brother  upon  any  plan 
for  your  views  and  drawings.  The  lateness  of  the  season 
now  makes  me  suspect  that  your  work  will  not  come  forth 

*  Mrs.  Etty's  sister. 


1776  MULSO   UEGES   PUBLICATION  315 

this  spring,  and  indeed  the  want  of  that  ornament,  which 
you  seemed  to  set  your  heart  upon,  will  make  it  impossible. 
I  feel  an  impatience,  and  the  more  for  your  sake,  as  the  taste 
of  the  town  for  reading  is  capricious,  and  natural  observa- 
tions have  had  a  run,  and  at  a  high  price.  I  should  rather 
therefore  have  wished  both  you  and  John  to  have  pushed 
your  collections  forward.  But  you  must  be  best  judge  now 
you  have  been  at  London." 

In  March  Gilbert  White  returned  to  Selborne, 
whence  he  wrote — 

To  Thomas  White.  Selborne,  April  6,  1776. 

Dear  Brother, — Though  I  must  not  aspire  so  high  as  to 
make  any  pretensions  to  the  rectory  of  Gotham ;  yet  may  I 
claim  at  least  to  be  Mr.  Lightfoot's  curate :  for  I  have  acted 
so  simply  by  Berriman's  bill,  which  I  brought  up  to  be 
forwarded  to  Mr.  Cane,  that  unless  you  can  help  me  out 
I  shall,  in  all  appearance,  be  ten  pounds  out  of  pocket  for 
my  meddling.  Now  this  bill,  which  was  a  Guildford  note 
value  £10,  did  I  carry  in  my  pocket  intending  daily  to  pay 
it,  with  £1.  5.  0.  more,  into  the  hands  of  Bro.  Benj.  Some- 
what still,  forgetfulness  I  suppose,  prevented  my  paying  it 
to  him.  However  in  some  moderate  time  the  bill  was  gone ; 
and  I  had  so  fully  possessed  myself  that  I  had  done  what 
I  ought,  that  I  thought  little  of  the  matter ;  only  now  and 
then  asking  my  Br.  Benjamin  if  Mr.  Cane  had  drawn  for  the 
money ;  to  which  he  always  answered  in  the  negative.  Under 
this  perswasion  I  came  down  and  told  Berriman  that  I  had 
payed  his  money.  When,  lo,  in  a  post  or  two  comes  a  letter 
from  Mr.  C.  complaining  that  he  had  drawn  for  the  money ; 
but  that  the  answer  was  that  no  such  money  had  been  paid 
in :  from  whence  I  conclude  that  my  Bro.  is  not  conscious 
that  I  ever  paid  him  :  neither  indeed  can  I  say  that  I  did ; 
only  that  I  thought  for  iveeks  before  I  left  him  that  I  had. 


316  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1776 

Now  as  you  see  the  state  of  the  case,  and  how  simply  I  have 
acted,  pray  recollect  all  you  can  concerning  a  £10  Guildford 
bill,  drawn  /or,  and  backed  hy  Robert  Godard,  N°  forgot. 
Did  I  ever  change  such  a  bill  with  you  ?  or  did  I  ever  talk 
before  you  concerning  any  disposal  of  said  bill.  To  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  I  still  took  cash  of  you  for  all  my 
occasions,  and  payed  for  all  my  necessaries  in  cash.  Could 
I  leave  it  behind  in  my  drawers,  or  in  any  book  ?  All  my 
other  concerns  come  right  except  this  unfortunate  bill :  so 
pray  help  me  out. 

The  old  attorney  at  Petersfield  told  me  that  all  the  Holts 
were  dead,  or  gone  from  the  town  before  his  memory  of 
people :  but  a  Mr.  Holt,  he  says,  who  was  agent  to  the  Duke 
of  Bedford,  came  to  him  in  1729,  and  desired  him  to 
dispose  of  a  farm  for  him,  which  lay  in  the  parish  of 
Hawkley.  This  farm,  the  Gent,  told  me,  he  did  dispose 
of  for  Mr.  Holt.  Moreover,  he  told  me  that  the  estate 
called  Nursted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Petersfield,  value 
about  £300  per  ann.  was  for  generations  in  the  possession 
of  the  Holts ;  and  that  he  believes  the  Holts  of  Petersfield 
sprang  from  the  Holts  of  Nursted:  that  there  is  now  in  a 
window  in  Petersfield  the  arms  of  the  Holts  in  painted 
glass  brought  from  Nursted :  that  the  last  Holt  of  Nursted 
was  member  for  Petersfield  many  years  in  the  reign  of 
King  William :  that  he  had  only  a  daughter,  who  marryed 
into  Dorset:  that  afterwards  the  estate,  Nursted,  was  sold 
to  Mr.  Hugonen  the  Swiss,  whose  son  possesses  it  still. 
Mr.  Etty  has  paid  me  your  bill:  but  he  expected  to  have 
been  charged  for  a  parcel  of  yellow  ocre,  which  was  not  in 
said  bill.  The  farm  which  I  sold  at  Harting,  Scot's,*  is  now 
on  sale  again.  I  sold  for  £1,120  :  and  they  ask  £1,600  :  but 
they  have  built  a  new  house  on  it.     We  are  going  to  build 

*  It  was  sold  in  1761.  No  doubt  this  was  one  of  the  properties  realised 
to  pay  the  younger  children's  portions  after  the  death  of  John  White 
(Gilbert's  father)  in  1758. 


1776  A  NEW  HERMITAGE  317 

a   new   Hermitage.      You   have    sweet   weather    for    your 

Journey.     I   must   go   to   Oxford   on   Monday:    but  must 

return   on   Saturday.     My   evergreens   have   suffered   very 

little:  Portugal  laurels  not  at  all. 

¥»•«  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

Please  to  pay  the  Master  of  the  post  chaise  in  the  Borough 
for  my  fare  to  Hounslow:  the  boy  knew  nothing  of  the 
price,  and  the  people  there  told  him  10  or  12  shillings. 

I  have  got  the  register  -  account  from  Rogate  of  our 
Father's  and  Mother's  marriage,  such  as  it  is :  but  it  is 
very  blind. 

To  the  Rev.  John  White.  -r.  ^  i,  ,r      -.^  if,h,/. 

Fyficld,  May  15, 1776. 

Dear  Brother, — Brother  Thomas  and  his  daughter  have 
been  with  me  for  a  week:  yesterday  we  all  three  came 
down  to  this  place,  and  found  all  well. 

As  I  had  got  a  frank  for  you,  I  thought  it  best  to  take 
it  down  with  us,  that  all  that  had  occasion  might  make  use 
of  it  together. 

Forster  was  presented  to  his  Doctor's  degree  at  Oxford 
on  account  of  his  literary  fame;  and  because  he  had 
hazarded  his  life  in  a  circumnavigation  in  the  pursuit  of 
Natural  knowledge. 

Pray  write  to  Linn.;  for  if  he  only  tells  you  of  your 
new  genera,  &c.  and  affixes  no  names,  he  leaves  you  in 
the  lurch ;  direct  to  him  as  academician  for  reasons  assigned 
in  a  former  letter. 

We  are  glad  you  find  your  heavy  duty  so  easy ;  for  what 
is  paid  to  curates  is  all  neat  money,  and  occasions  con- 
siderable deductions  from  a  moderate  living. 

Holdsworth  I  have  procured ;  but  I  can't  say  the  work 
gives  me  so  much  pleasure  as  it  seems  to  have  afforded 
you.     I   did   not   find   so   many  genuine  criticisms   drawn 


318  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1776 

for  the  face  of  the  country,  and  the  modern  practices  in 
husbandry,  as  I  expected ;  but  rather  a  collection  of  parallel 
passages  from  Cato  and  Columella.  So  much  easier  is  it  to 
compile,  than  to  advance  fresh  remarks. 

Mr.  Yalden  will  not  probably  set  out  for  Spain  'til  next 
spring:  I  shall  exhort  him  by  all  means  to  take  your 
recommendations  in  his  pocket.  He  is  a  decent  zoologist; 
and  particularly  an  entomologist.  He  is  returned,  I  hear, 
for  Edinburgh  to  Winton. 

Your  quantity  of  drawings,  I  find,  are  considerable;  no 
doubt  they  should  be  engraved  in  London. 

As  to  your  botany,  it  should  be  carefully  overlooked  by 
some  body:  in  the  zoological  part  your  powers  are  much 
more  considerable ;  and  you  want  only  a  friend,  as  all  men 
do,  just  to  remark  those  small  errors,  or  slips  which 
incuria  fudit. 

You  are  the  best  judge  whether  you  should  address  Mrs. 
Cornwallis;  if  you  do,  you  may  express  your  regard  for 
her  husband  with  more  warmth  than  if  he  was  living. 

"  Quis  desiderio  sit  pudor  aut  modus  "  ? 

Send  me  some  account  of  the  Hippohosca  hirundinis  at 
your  leisure. 

Harry's  little  academy  is  in  a  flourishing  way:  he  will, 
it  is  too  probable,  lose  his  £100  young  Gent,  at  Midsummer, 
but  then  at  that  time  he  is  to  have  a  fresh  pupil  of  14 
years  of  age  at  £150  per  annum! 

His  building  has  been  heavy  on  him;  but  without  con- 
siderable additions  he  could  not  have  stood  on  the  present 
footing.  So  one  must  be  set  against  the  other.  The 
common  parlor  at  present  is  the  worst  story;  indeed  it  is 
most  sadly  crouded:  however  brother  Thomas  is  going  to 
make  an  addition  to  it  of  a  space  of  18  by  10  feet,  which 
is  to  be  built  on  towards  the  street,  with  a  window  looking 
down  the  street,  and  the  chimney  at  the  upper  end :  when 
finished  the  parlor  will  be  thus — 


1776 


AN  IMPEOVEMENT   AT  FYFIELD 


319 


1                                 1 

- 

ii 

New  chimney. 

Old  window. 

1                       1 

like  a  T ;  odd,  but  roomy  and  convenient. 

We  are  much  distressed  in  Hants  by  the  long  dry 
season:  no  grass,  and  a  poor  prospect  for  spring -corn: 
butter  lOd  per  pound,  and  hay  at  £4  10s.  per  ton ! 

Mr.  Chandler's  stile  and  wording  are  very  lame  and 
defective  indeed.*  Sir  Thomas  Gatehouse's  effects  are  just 
sold  off  at  both  his  seats. 

My  respects  to  my  sister,  and  Jack — John  I  mean,  now 
he  is  six  feet  high. 

You  cannot  take  an  other  living  without  becoming  A.M. 
or  LL.B.,  both  which  degrees  will  require  time,  attendance, 
and  expence;  if  you  take  a  second  living  now  you  render 
your  first  void  ipso  facto. 

The  bloom  on  all  sorts  of  trees  is  this  year  very  extra- 
ordinary indeed ! 

At  present  I  think  of  sending  for  Grimm  about  the 
beginning  of  July :  I  may  employ  him  for  perhaps  a  month. 
Mr.  Yalden  of  Newton  then  talks  of  taking  him  for  a 
week  to  draw  his  house,  and  outlet ;  and  then  he  is  to  go 
to  Penruddock  Wyndham  Esq*"^  at  Warnford.     So  he  will 

*  This  may  possibly  refer  to  'Travels  in  Asia  Minor,'  published  in  the 
previous  year  (1775),  or  to  'Travels  in  Greece,'  published  in  1776,  by 
Richard  Chandler,  the  traveller  and  antiquary,  with  whom  Gilbert  White 
subsequently  became  intimately  acquainted. 


320  GILBEET  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1776 

have  a  good  stroke  of  work.  His  price  is  two  guineas  and 
an  half  per  week.  His  buildings,  human  figures,  quad- 
rupeds, waters,  perspective  among  trees,  are  good;  but  his 
trees  are  not  so  pleasing :  he  has  also  a  vein  of  humour, 
but  that  I  shall  not  allow  him  to  call  forth,  as  all  my 
plates  must  be  serious.  At  the  last  Exhibition  he  produced 
some  very  good  drawings. 

Harry's  outlet  is  now  very  neat  and  beautiful.  Capt. 
Shaw  is  but  just  gone  from  Farnham.  I  called  on  him 
in  my  return  from  town;  he  seemed  inclined,  I  thought, 
to  make  me  a  visit;  but  he  never  came.  Mrs.  Etty  has 
been  very  ill  indeed  since  her  lying-in,  but  is  getting 
better ;  she  has  got  an  other  son,  whose  name  is  Simeon. 

Writing  on  May  5th,  1776,  Mulso  remarks  : — 

"  I  shall  envy  you  prodigiously  when  Mr.  Grimm  is  with 
you.  What  a  plenitude  of  Virtu  will  you  feel  within  you,  re- 
creating Selborne  and  immortalizing  your  Favourite  Place." 

On  May  27th,  1776,  Thomas  White  heard  from  his 
brother,  who  was  now  busy  with  '  The  Antiquities  of 
Selborne.' 

"Pray  desire  brother  Benjamin  to  enquire  of  Mr.  Astle 
and  others  where  they  suppose  I  can  find  Chart.  54  Hen.  3, 
m.  3,  De  mercatu  etferid  apud  Selehurn^  whether  in  the  Tower 
or  elsewhere. 

"We  have  finished  the  hermitage,  and  I  desire  to  know 
what  I  am  to  charge  you  towards  it,  as  you  were  so  kind  as 
to  make  a  tender  of  your  subscription." 

This  building,  called  by  Gilbert  White  a  "new 
Hermitage"  in  a  recent  letter  to  his  brother,  may 
be  seen  in  Grimm's  large  north-east  view  of  Selborne, 
in   the   middle   of  the   picture,    which   formed   the 


1776  GRIMM   COMING  TO  SELBORNE  321 

frontispiece  to  the  first  edition  of  'The  Natural 
History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne ' ;  the  original 
Hermitage,  ' 

"...  the  scene  that  late  with  rapture  rang, 
Where  Delphy  danced,  and  gentle  Anna  sang," 

appearing  more  to  the  left,  higher  up,  and  near  the 
zigzag  path  up  the  Hanger. 

To  Thomas  White,  Selborne,  June  24, 1776. 

Dear  Brother, — Molly  says  in  her  letter  to  Mrs.  Etty  that 
you  think  of  going  into  Rutland  next  month.  I  am  going 
to  write  to  Grimm,  and  shall  desire  him  to  come  down  about 
the  8th  of  July.  We  have  a  black  cold  and  blowing  solstice ; 
but  not  a  wet  one.  My  S^foin  was  cut  last  Thursday,  and 
will  be  ricked  tomorrow  in  good  order,  if  the  weather  holds 
out.  If  you  don't  write  soon  and  forbid  me,  I  shall  set  you 
down  as  a  subscriber  to  the  Hermitage,  which  is  finished. 

Mr.  Butcher*  is  a  very  extraordinary  man :  but  you  seem 
a  favourite  now.  He  puts  me  in  mind  of  Sarah  Duchess  of 
Marlborough,  whose  resentment  Mr.  Pope  says  was  the  most 
formidable  thing  in  the  world — except  her  favour. 

Harry  and  his  wife  will  I  apprehend  find  much  trouble 
with  the  measles ;  but  the  young  folks  can  never  have  them 
at  a  better  time. 

I  am  glad  the  Lady  in  Herts  continues  so  gracious. 

Pray  remember  my  records  at  the  Charter-house  West- 
minster. I  have  just  ceiled  and  am  fitting  up  a  garret  for 
any  young  person  I  may  have  with  me :  that  there  may  be 
more  room  for  Molly  and  yourself  when  you  come.  .  .  . 

Love  to  Molly.     Mrs.  Etty  improves  daily. 

Yours  &c., 

Gil.  White. 

*  The  family  attorney  in  London. 
VOL.  I. — Y 


322  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBORNE  1776 

To  Samuel  Barker, 

Selborne,  July  1,  1776. 

Dear  Sir, — In  the  larger  plants  in  general  I  found  no 
difficulty  at  all,  being  assisted  by  Linn.,  Hudson,  Bay's 
'  Synopsis  stirpium,'  &c. ;  but  as  to  the  mosses,  I  did  not 
care  to  meddle,  because  they  were  become  too  minute  for 
my  eyes,  before  they  began  to  be  employed  in  those  enquiries. 
As  to  the  genera  of  Orchis,  Ophrys  and  Serapias,  there  is 
great  obscurity  among  them,  as  Linn,  tacitly  acknowledges 
by  calling  in  the  distinction  of  their  roots  in  his  specific 
descriptions.  In  his  system  the  distinctions  should  lie  in 
the  corolla,  stalks,  leaves.  As  to  the  different  sorts  of 
garden-fruits,  they  are  the  production  of  cultivation;  and 
belong  only  incidentally  to  the  Linn,  system ;  but  are  to  be 
sought  for  in  *  Miller's  Dictionary '  &c. 

As  to  the  Nymphcea  alba,  the  white  water-lily,  there  are 
none  in  this  parish  :  but  are  to  be  found  in  Wish-hanger 
pond  in  the  parish  of  Frinsham :  if  I  knew  when  the  seeds 
were  ripe,  I  would  endeavour  to  procure  some. 

Dr.  Forster  assured  me  that  he  saw,  some  few  times, 
appearances  in  the  sky  in  the  S.  hemisphere  very  similar  to 
those  we  call  aurorce  horeales. 

Our  Jirst  young  brood  of  swallows  was  marvellously  early, 
appearing  on  June  15th  :  the  first  week  in  July  is  the  usual 
time.  I  have  written  to  Grimm,  and  don't  know  but  that 
I  may  see  him  next  Monday.  I  expect  also  my  nephew 
Richard  White,  who  is  to  stay  with  me  some  time.  Nanny 
Woods  dines  with  me  to-day:  she  is  tender,  and  has  got 
a  cough. 

We  have  built  a  new  Hermitage,  a  plain  cot :  but  it  has 
none  of  the  fancy,  and  rude  ornament  that  recommended  the 
former  to  people  of  taste :  this  is  strong  and  substantial,  and 
will  stand  a  long  while,  fire  excepted.  Our  solstice  is  cool, 
and  shady,  but  not  very  wet :  I  have  ricked  my  S*foin  in  fine 


1776  BURGOYNE'S  LIGHT  HOESE  323 

order :  this  day  I  begin  to  cut  my  meadow-grass,  which  will 
prove  a  bigger  crop  by  one  third  than  that  of  last  year. 
Cucumbers  do  not  succeed  well  in  general  this  year.  My 
bank,  which  was  lowered  when  you  were  here,  is  now  very 
gaudy,  and  full  of  flowers.  I  have  much  wall-fruit;  and 
a  fine  show  for  grapes:  pears,  plums,  apples,  and  cherries 
without  number.  As  I  was  visiting  last  Tuesday  at  Bram- 
shot  I  saw  on  the  Portsmouth  road  Burgoyne's  light  horse 
marching  down  to  embark  for  N.  America :  the  horses  were 
fine,  and  the  men  fine  young  fellows ;  but  they  all  looked 
very  grave,  and  did  not  seem  much  to  admire  their  destina- 
tion. The  Atlantic  is  no  small  frith  for  cavalry  to  be 
transported  over.  The  expence  will  be  enormous !  Brother 
and  Sister  Harry  have  been  in  town,  and  at  Mrs.  Snooke's. 
At  Ringmer  Ben.  Woods  caught  the  measles  of  John  Mott, 
and  fell  with  it  before  he  left  town :  but  his  father  sent  him 
down  to  Fyfield  after  it  came  out.  None  of  brother  Harry's 
children  nor  brother  Thomas's  have  had  this  distemper:  so 
there  will  be  a  sick  house,  and  much  trouble:  but  the 
children  can  never  fall  at  a  better  season  of  the  year,  or 
time  of  life.  Now  at  midsummer  Harry  is  to  have  a  young 
gentleman  at  the  noble  price  of  £150  per  ann.*  Harry  and 
his  wife  (no  small  personages)  and  seven  children,  two  canary 
birds,  one  aberdavine,  10  parcels,  a  dormouse,  and  a  puppy- 
dog,  all  went  down  in  two  post-chaises.  Brother  Thomas  is 
going  to  enlarge  Harry's  common  parlor  by  building  on 
a  large  piece  at  the  N.W.  end  next  the  street:  the  room 
then  will  be  odd  but  large  and  convenient :  it  now  swarms 
with  people.     H.  Woods  and  Bessf  make  some  progress  on 

*  A  Mr.  Amyand,  apparently.  An  account  of  Henry  White's  family, 
with  extracts  from  his  diaries  containing  much  interesting  information  upon 
country  life  in  the  eighteenth  century,  may  be  found  in  'Notes  on  the 
Parishes  of  Fyfield  [etc.],'  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Hawley  Clutterbuck,  f.s.a. 
Bennett  Brothers,  Salisbury,  1898. 

+  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry  White. 


324  GILBERT  WHITE  OF   SELBOENE  1776 

the  harpsichord.  Mrs.  Etty  was  very  ill  in  the  spring ;  but 
is  recovered.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yalden  are  at  Sarum  attending 
on  the  nuptials  of  Molly  Fort,  the  youngest  lady. 

Y"  affect., 
Write  soon.  Gil.  White. 

On   July    8th,    1776,   the    Naturalist's    Journal 
records — 

"  Mr.  Grimm,  my  artist,  came  from  London  to  take  some  of 
our  finest  views." 

Writing  on  July  16th,  1776,  Mulso  regrets  his 
inability  to  visit  at  Selborne. 

"While  you  are  enjoying  yourself,  like  an  Italian  mag- 
nifico,  with  your  designer  at  your  elbow,  I  am  waiting  for 
an  artist  in  his  way,  that  may  be  perhaps  as  profitable, 
but  is  not  half  so  agreeable  to  my  taste — I  mean  a  surveyor. 
.  .  .  You  may  imagine  that  you  whet  my  curiosity  by 
telling  me  what  a  pleasure  I  might  partake  from  Grimm's 
pencil,  and  the  liberality  of  his  manner:  and  it  would  be 
no  small  part  of  my  satisfaction  to  see  my  old  friend  taking 
such  voluptuous  rides  upon  his  hobby-horse.  No  man  com- 
municates the  pleasure  of  his  excursions,  or  makes  the  world 
partake  of  them  in  a  more  useful  manner,  than  you  do. 

It  is  the 

*  Solemne  viris  opus,  utile  famse, 
Vitseque  et  membris.' 

*'Your  work,  upon  the  whole,  will  immortalize  your 
place  of  abode  as  well  as  yourself;  it  will  convert  men's 
principles ;  and  give  health  to  those  who  chuse  to  visit 
the  scenes  of  Mr.  Grimm's  pencil,  in  their  original.  I 
have  a  good  opinion  of  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Grimm's 
fancy,  by  what  he  judges  of  my  brother  Mulso.  ...  I 
have  seen  something  of  what  you  mean  of   Mr.  Grimm's 


1776  GIBBON'S   HISTOEY  325 

Tinges  *  in  some  little  things  of  Taylor  and  others  at  the 
exhibitions  in  Town;  it  is  exceedingly  pleasing,  and  could 
you  have  it  transcribed  into  your  prints,  would  wonderfully 
improve  the  force  of  the  drawing.  I  long  to  be  at  your  side, 
but  I  cannot :  yet  by  the  time  that  the  first  insanity  is  over, 
and  you  begin  to  speak  slower  and  in  a  milder  voice,  I  hope 
to  talk  with  you  here  or  at  Selbourne. 

"Do  you  consider  that  I  am  now  ploughing?  that  hay- 
harvest  is  coming  on  ?  .  .  .  Add  to  this  visiting  and  visita- 
tioning,  swearing  at  Quarter  Sessions,  and  all  the  wickedness 
and  dissipation  of  Plurality  ?  f 

"  Well,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  much  to  be  thankful  for. 
....  I  am  glad  to  say  I  left  the  Bishop  well  enough  to 
seem  likely  to  serve  several  friends  more.  I  could  direct 
him — but  it  is  not  allowed.  Have  you  read  Gibbon's  book  ? 
What  think  you  of  his  latter  chapters  ?  If  you  dislike 
them,  cannot  you  answer  them  ?  You  have  the  candour 
of  a  gentleman,  and  could  confute  a  genteel  writer  in  a 
decent  way.  I  wish  you  could ;  and  soon :  you  have  leisure, 
and  you  have  access  to  what  books  you  might  want. 
(Among  ourselves  —  in  illumquidem  beneficium  collocarem^ 
a  quo  graviter  lucide  et  viriliter  convinceretur,  i.e.  G.  This 
was  the  word,  if  I  express  it  right,  of  him  who  seldom 
breaks  it.)" 

Even  this  bribe,  however,  did  not  move  the 
historian  of  Selborne  to  enter  the  lists  against  the 
historian  of  Kome. 

At  the  beginning  of  August  his  friend  visited 
Mulso  at  Meonstoke,  whence  he  wrote — 


*  The  tinged  drawings  subsequently  spoken  of  by  Gilbert  White  in  his 
letter  of  August  9th,  1776,  to  John  White. 

t  He  had  recently  been  presented  to  the  Rectory  of  Easton,  near  Win- 
chester, by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester. 
VOL.  I. — Y  2 


326  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBOENE  1776 

To  the  Bev.  John  White. 

Meonstoke,  Aug.  9,  1776. 

Dear  Brother, — By  your  unusual  silence  I  began  to  fear 
what  has  really  been  the  case,  ill  health.  You  have  perhaps 
by  your  attention  to  your  book  and  other  matters  been  too 
free  with  your  constitution  lately :  you  must  therefore  relax 
a  little,  and  allow  yourself  more  time  for  riding  and  walking. 
Particularly,  I  think,  you  should  avoid  contention  though  in 
ever  so  good  a  cause :  for  any  earnest  agitation  of  the  mind 
is  bad  for  the  stomach  and  bowels. 

Luccomb's  oak,  we  think,  will  probably  turn  out  at  last 
the  Querctos  cegilops :  but  this  matter  cannot  well  be  deter- 
mined 'til  it  comes  to  bear  fruit.  It  carries  its  leaf  all  the 
winter  in  Devon,  but  casts  it  at  Selborne,  Essex,  and  else- 
where ;  and  is  probably  a  deciduous  tree. 

Perhaps  your  homo  sapiens  may  be  too  close  a  copying 
of  the  Linn,  system,  and  may  appear  pedantic  to  an  anti- 
Linn,  reader.  I  by  no  means  want  the  Hippolosca  hirund: 
just  at  any  one  particular  day  or  week;  only  wish  to  see 
it  at  your  leisure.  Mr.  Grimm  was  with  me  just  28  days ; 
24  of  which  he  worked  very  hard,  and  shewed  good 
specimens  of  his  genius,  assiduity,  and  modest  behaviour, 
much  to  my  satisfaction.  He  finished  for  me  12  views. 
He  first  of  all  sketches  his  scapes  with  a  lead-pencil ;  then 
he  pens  them  all  over,  as  he  calls  it,  with  indian-ink, 
rubbing  out  the  superfluous  pencil- strokes ;  then  he  gives 
a  charming  shading  with  a  brush  dipped  in  indian-ink ; 
and  last  he  throws  a  light  tinge  of  water-colours  over  the 
whole.  The  scapes,  many  of  them  at  least,  looked  so  lovely 
in  their  indian-ink  shading,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the 
artist  could  prevail  on  me  to  permit  him  to  tinge  them; 
as  I  feared  those  colours  might  puzzle  the  engravers:  but 
he  assured  me  to  the  contrary.  From  me  Mr.  G.  went 
to  Mr.  Yalden  to  take  a  scape  of  his  outlet  from  above 


1776  THOMAS   WHITE   EETIKING  327 

the  chalk-pit.  On  Tuesday  I  brought  my  artist  (at  the 
desire  of  a  gentleman  who  was  visiting  there)  to  Lord 
Clanricarde's  at  Warnford,  that  he  might  take  a  drawing 
of  an  old  building  in  his  lordship's  garden,  now  a  barn; 
it  is  a  curious  piece  of  antiquity  little  known,  and  will 
prove  an  agreeable  surprize  to  many  as  I  am  sure  it 
was  to  me,  who  never  heard  the  least  of  the  matter 
before. 

Brother  Thomas  can  by  no  means  yet  bring  his  matters 
to  a  conclusion;  he  is  lowering  his  stock,  and  preparing 
to  retire;  and  will  hereafter  probably  spend  part  of  his 
time  at  Fyfield,  as  he  is  building  there.  He  has  just 
carried  his  daughter  Molly  down  to  Lyndon.  Brother 
Henry  has  just  had  the  measles  in  his  house :  twelve  young 
people  went  through  that  distemper,  and  all  are  well 
recovered:  his  £150  pupil  was  to  have  been  with  him  at 
midsummer,  but  has  been  kept  away  by  the  above- 
mentioned  disorder.  Mr.  Halliday  is  with  him  yet,  but 
may  probably  go  at  Xmass.  There  is  some  reason  to  fear 
that  that  young  gentleman's  father  may  be  taken  by  the 
American  privateers  in  his  passage  home  from  Antigua. 

Mulso  has  just  got  a  second   living  near  Winton;   the 

name  of  it  is  Easton,  it  is  worth  £250  per  annum.     Our 

S*^foin  was  finely  made ;  then  we  had  a  dripping  time  that 

spoiled  much  clover,  and  some  meadow-hay;  and  for  the 

last  fortnight  in  July  we  had  glorious  weather  to  finish 

off  the  meadow :  now  harvest  is  beginning,  and  the  weather 

dripping.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mulso  join  in  respects.     I  saw  one 

swift  yesterday.     At  present   I   cannot  say  when   I  shall 

be  at  liberty  to  wait  on  you  and  my  Sister ;  but  you  may 

be   assured   that  I  wish   to  have  it  in  my  power  to  see 

Blackburn. 

I  conclude  y*"  affectionate  Brother, 

Gil.  White. 


328  GILBEKT   WHITE   OF   SELBOKNE  1776 

A  little  later  on  the  usual  visit  to  Ringmer  was  paid. 
To  Samuel  Barker.  Kingmer,  Aug.  19,  1776. 

Dear  Sam, — A  knowledge  of  the  grasses  is  the  most 
desireable  part  of  botany,  because  the  most  useful;  but  it 
is  the  most  neglected,  for  graziers  and  farmers  do  not  seem 
to  distinguish  any  one  sort  of  Gramen  from  the  other ;  the 
annual  from  the  perennial,  the  succulent  from  the  dry, 
or  the  aquatic  from  the  upland.  Whereas  by  attention 
their  meadows  and  pastures  might  be  much  improved;  and 
it  is  an  old  maxim,  that  he  is  an  useful  member  of  society, 
a  good  common- wealths-man,  "  who  can  procure  two  blades 
of  grass  where  only  one  grew  before." 

I  am  not  a  little  pleased  to  find  that  you  have  got  the 
Eirundo  riparia  just  at  hand ;  because  I  shall  expect  from 
a  man  of  your  accuracy  some  circumstances  of  information, 
which  I  cannot  so  well  make  myself  master  of  at  the 
distance  of  Wolmer  forest.  You  will  be  pleased,  another 
year,  to  attend  to  the  exact  season  of  their  coming  and 
departure ;  time  of  nidification,  and  bringing  out  their  first 
and  second  brood,  &c.,  &c.  Pay  attention  also  to  the  other 
three  species,  for  I  shall  be  glad  of  any  well  -  attested 
anecdotes,  intending  some  time  hence  to  publish  a  new 
edition  of  my  'Hirundines'  in  some  way  or  other.  My 
artist  Mr.  Grimm  stayed  with  me  27  days;  24  of  which 
he  worked  very  hard,  and  displayed  great  tokens  of  genius 
and  assiduity.  He  finished  twelve  drawings;  one  of  which 
was  a  view  of  Hawkley-hanger ;  but  that  scape,  I  think, 
did  not  succeed  so  well  as  some  others.  Bro.  Harry  made 
me  a  visit,  and  was  much  delighted  with  what  was  going 
on ;  and  in  particular  with  a  view  of  the  hermitage,  which 
Grimm  is  to  copy  for  him  in  town.*     From  me  my  artist 

*  This  was  done.  This  really  beautiful  water-colour  drawing  of  the 
original  Hermitage,  which  is  considerably  larger  than  the  vignette  published 
in  'The  Natural  History  of  Selborne,'  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl 
of  Stamford,  a  great-giandson  of  Henry  White. 


o 


g 


I 


1776  GRIMM'S  DRAWINGS  329 

went  to  Mr.  Yalden;  and  took  a  view  of  his  house  and 
outlet  from  the  edge  of  his  chalk -pit.  The  employer 
wanted  and  intended  a  view  from  the  alcove;  but  the 
draughtsman  as  well  as  myself,  objected  much  to  the 
uniformity  of  that  scene ;  so  I  carried  G.  to  the  chalk-pit, 
on  the  W.  side  of  the  house,  from  whence  he  took  a  charm- 
ing view.  From  Newton  I  carryed  G.  to  L'^  Clanricarde's 
at  Warnford;  where  in  the  gardens  he  took  a  perspective 
internal  view,  section,  and  elevation  of  a  very  curious  old 
hall,  or  church  unknown  to  the  antiquaries,  for  a  gentleman 
visiting  there,  who  will  one  day  oblige  the  world  with 
this  neglected  and  obscure  curiosity,  now  a  barn.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  been  built  by  King  John:  the  order  is 
Saxon.  From  hence  G.  went  to  Winton,  to  work  there 
for  a  week  or  ten  days  on  his  own  account ;  and  is  to  call 
at  Harteley  on  his  return.  I  regret  much  that  King  John's 
hall  had  not  remained  unnoticed  a  little  longer,  'till  my 
brother  Thomas  had  been  a  little  more  at  liberty ;  for  when 
he  has  done  with  business,  he  proposes  to  entertain  himself 
with  collecting  materials  for  an  history  of  the  county  of 
Southampton ;  and  I  moreover  marvel  that  I  never  heard 
of  this  hall  before. 

Our  people  know  nothing  of  the  use  of  the  rind  or  peel 
of  the  Jxincus  effusus  for  cordage.  I  rejoice  to  hear  that 
you  learn  French ;  you  will  very  soon  be  able  to  read  it. 

The  weather  has  been  now  very  showery  for  just  a 
fortnight :  our  harvest  is  in  a  very  bad  way.  When  I 
arrived  last  Friday  evening  I  was  surprized  to  find  Mrs. 
K.  Isaac  and  Niece  Becky  at  supper  with  my  aunt.  B.  is 
grown  beyond  all  knowledge.  Nephew  Eichard,  who  has 
left  school,  is  here  with  me. 

Mr.  Shadwel  has  left  Stoneham  farm,  which  is  raised 
from  £250  to  £400  per  ann.  Thanks  to  Molly  White  for 
her  agreeable  letter.  On  the  Friday  you  mention  my 
thermometer  rose  up  to  79°  loithin  doors;  a  pitch  which 


330  GILBERT  WHITE   OF   SELBORNE  1776 

I  have  scarce  ever   seen  exceeded.     Wheat  grows  in  the 
sheaf. 

You  have  the  Stoparolce*  I  find;  but  say  nothing  of  the 
white-throat,  black-cap;  Regidi  non  cristati,  3  species;  the 
red  start.     Respects  to  all.  Yours  affect., 

Gil.  White. 

We  have  just  weighed  Timothy,  who  is  increased  in 
weight  just  one  ounce  and  an  half  since  last  August. 
Stoparolce  come  to  Selborne  May  20th  and  depart  about 
Septr.  7th. 

*  Now  known  as  the  spotted  or  grey  fly-catcher. — A.  N. 


END    OP    VOL.    I. 


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